The resort is located on the edge of one of the world’s largest barrier reefs. The solar-powered facility does not have air conditioning or a pool in order to reduce its carbon footprint. Most food is grown in gardens or caught from the sea, and all workers are recruited from local villages. This is Nukubati, on the northern coast of Fiji’s Vanua Levu island and at the forefront of a growing movement to transform Pacific tourism.
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“Our aim is really to enhance our environment rather than exploit it,” says Jenny Leewai Bourke, director of Nukubati. Nukubati is a member of Duavata, a collective of Fijian tourism businesses that say their industry must enhance the environment and cultural heritage. But the issue is complex.
Pacific island countries, which are among the world’s most vulnerable to the climate crisis, are grappling with how to balance the environmental and cultural impact of tourism with economic needs. There is no enforceable, region-wide agreement on sustainable practices; There is just a set of guidelines and initiatives. Tourism, the backbone of many island economies, has begun to recover from the devastation caused by the Covid pandemic. The influx of visitors has led to calls for change.
“We must demand a revolt against business as usual,” Vanuatu’s former tourism director Jerry Spooner says of mass tourism. “It is imperative that we consider how our travel impacts destinations and indigenous communities.”
New tourism models are emerging throughout the region. While Vanuatu and the Cook Islands promote “regenerative” tourism, French Polynesia promotes a “slow” tourism model. Bora Bora, an island in French territory, has imposed restrictions on arrivals to protect its way of life. Palau, an archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean, asks visitors to sign a pledge to act in an ecologically responsible manner.
But experts say a lack of monitoring to monitor impact, poor management and limited resources are holding Pacific tourism back from making environmental progress. They call for soft measures (voluntary commitments or certification schemes) that should be backed by legislation.
In a five-part series, the Guardian examines the challenges Pacific island nations face in balancing economic dependence on tourism with its environmental impacts – which has wreaked havoc, where new models are working and how tourists can make a difference.
There is no power in editing
There is a network of laws, regulations and strategies that address sustainable tourism practices across the Pacific.
Many governments have sustainable tourism strategies and environmental legislation. The Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO), the region’s leading industry group with 21 member countries, has developed a sustainable tourism framework and destination standards. They contain far-reaching guidelines, from reducing plastic and energy use to preserving culture. Sustainability certification programs also exist at national and global levels.
However, in practice, many of the frameworks and guidelines are not applicable or are not widely regulated. Joseph Cheer, professor of sustainable tourism and heritage at Western Sydney University in Australia, says the frameworks establish “target parameters” for the industry and compliance with them is voluntary.
“This is one of the biggest challenges in the Pacific,” says Cheer. “Whether a business decides to comply or not is entirely up to them. There is no coercion or punishment if you do not comply with these.”
Cheer warns against generalizing about the region, saying there is a lack of data collected on sustainability measures and a poor track record on governance in the Pacific.
The Global Sustainable Tourism Council is a leading organization that sets standards and facilitates certification for destinations and businesses around the world; Singapore, Sweden’s Järvsö and Australia’s Thredbo ski resort are among the places that have achieved GSTC certification. No destinations in the Pacific are certified, although some have adopted its standards.
One of these is Fiji, the most visited country in the Pacific with more than 636,000 visitors in 2022. The country adopted GSTC standards as nationwide guidelines this year. Brent Hill, chief executive of Fiji Tourism, admits these are being rolled out slowly and remain optional. The sector contributes approximately 40% of Fiji’s GDP and the government is developing a national sustainable tourism framework that will include similar standards of participation.
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Vanuatu, where tourism contributed roughly 36% of GDP before the Covid outbreak, was among the first Pacific countries to adopt a formal sustainable tourism strategy. The country, along with the Cook Islands, provides businesses with optional eco and sustainable tourism certificates. Vanuatu hopes to achieve GSTC certification and wants 60% of tourism businesses to be certified by local authorities by 2025.
Yet there is “very little regulation or self-regulation from the private sector” on sustainable tourism across the Pacific, says Stephen Pratt, department chair of tourism, events and attractions at the University of Central Florida. This is largely due to governments’ lack of resources, the “tyranny of distance” and the difficulty of monitoring remote locations.
New tourism models
As standards and “green” certification systems emerge, countries are trying to attract environmentally and culturally focused tourists.
French Polynesia, which includes Tahiti, markets its more than 100 islands as “slow tourism” destinations. Slow tourism advocates staying in one place for longer periods of time by opting for transportation such as walking or cycling. It also encourages cultural experiences, such as visiting a taro plantation where tourists are shown how to harvest and cook the edible root.
Other countries are exploring “regenerative” tourism, which requires visitors to make a positive impact. They might help restore a coral reef, stay in locally run guesthouses, or eat locally grown food.
“More tourist dollars are staying in the country, and visitors are having more authentic, meaningful experiences,” says Spooner, who now runs the Vanuatu nonprofit Renewing Vanua.
Agritourism, which integrates farming into tourist experiences, transforms traditional practices “into a story” and benefits communities, he says.
“Visitors showing excitement at the traditional dining experience contribute to a revival of pride in local food systems, thereby discouraging dependence on unhealthy imported foods, which is a major health problem in Pacific Island countries.”
The Cook Islands’ five-year tourism strategy, launched in 2022, includes attracting “responsible” travelers by focusing on culture and traditions, as well as marketing regenerative experiences. Visitors are encouraged to eat local food instead of imported food in restaurants and to support certified “mana tiaki” (custody) businesses. Mana tiaki is a free certification system for businesses that meet sustainability and environmental protection standards.
Elsewhere in the region, New Caledonia says sustainability is one of its core tourism values. Samoa’s tourism development plan includes the aim of becoming a more “resilient, inclusive and green tourism destination”.
Pratt says that although niche tourism segments are important, “they will never reach the tourist volume, at least not as they did pre-Covid.”
But professor of sustainable tourism at Griffith University, Dr. Susanne Becken notes that small, locally owned businesses may attract fewer visitors than the mass tourism model, but this does not mean they are less beneficial to local people.
Becken says voluntary programs like mana tiaki, or the Palau pledge, are helpful, but “ideally such soft measures are complemented by legislation and standards, such as the phase-out of single-use plastic supported through the Pacific Ocean Litter Project.”
A clearer picture of the impact of tourism could guide policymaking. Becken says there is a lack of data on the carbon footprint and environmental impacts of tourism in the Pacific, despite SPTO’s work in this area.
Given their remote location, reducing transport emissions by air or sea remains among the Pacific nation’s biggest environmental challenges. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s 2021 report, travel and tourism account for 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
SPTO chief executive Christopher Cocker says that although the Pacific islands’ contribution to global emissions is negligible, “becoming a green industry depends on the transformation of the transport sector”.
Tourists are leading the change
Despite growing interest in sustainability, leading Samoan climate change activist Brianna Fruean says the region needs to “reshape” its relationship with tourism.
“Tourists are not only allowed to come to our Pacific Islands, and it is free for everyone… We are the guardians of our islands, and when we welcome you as guests on our islands, you must be the guardians too, be a good guest.”
Richard Markham, a member of Fiji’s Duavata collective, agrees that visitors need to take some responsibility for the impact they make. Markham says travelers who want a “green vacation” should do their research.
“Where these are not regulated, the onus is on the consumer to determine the most sustainable products,” he says, acknowledging that “the risk of greenwashing and lack of transparency can make this difficult.”
Markham says tourists should “seek to book with locally owned businesses and operators who have expressed their concerns through genuine engagement with local communities and the environment.”
“Visitors can show that they truly care and will not be fooled by ‘greenwashing,’ which can encourage the industry to make significant changes,” he says.