28 May 2013

Improved accommodation after Samoa post-cyclone rebuild

1:10 pm on 28 May 2013

The Samoa Hotel Association says accommodation damaged by last December's Cyclone Evan is being rebuilt more resilient and to a higher standard.

The New Zealand government has just announced a further 4.8 million US dollars to help Samoa recover from the cyclone, with a focus on rebuilding for resistance to future natural disasters.

It had given three million dollars earlier in the year to help Samoa's tourism sector recover.

The president of the Samoa Hotel Association, Tuala Oli Ah Him, says this has helped a lot.

"If there's something that we discovered was faulty during the cycylone, we got some engineers working with our Samoa Hotel Association and the government to actually improve and to build back better from what it was before, more resilient to natural disaster."

Tuala Oli Ah Him says occupancy rates are about the same as last year.