Six months have passed since Cyclone Pam brought widespread destruction to Vanuatu and businesses in the country are still struggling to recover.
Transcript
Six months have passed since Cyclone Pam brought widespread destruction to Vanuatu and businesses in the country are still struggling to recover.
Much of Vanuatu's essential infrastructure services have been restored but the country's life blood, tourism is still struggling to reach pre-cyclone levels.
Koroi Hawkins reports.
Blue skies, pristine beaches and turquoise waters are part of the checklist for travellers planning a Pacific getaway and Vanuatu has always had plenty to offer in all departments along with welcoming smiles from the friendly Ni-Vanuatu people. But according to a tourism spokesperson in Vanuatu's Chamber of Commerce, Bryan Death, business has been slow to return to the islands after Cyclone Pam.
BRYAN DEATH: Generally the town looks good and business houses are trading quite well. Albeit nobody would be experiencing any sort of growth, they would be struggling to the degree that there is quite a lot of missing tourist numbers from our, from our normal expectations. And that is simply because two of our major resorts are closed down until probably early in the New Year. Which equates to about five or six thousand bed nights that converts to a significant amount of income when it comes down to the economy.
But not all is doom and gloom, Mr Death says tourism operators in the country are anticipating the launch of a major marketing campaign currently before government which will see Vanuatu making it onto TV screens and papers in Australia and New Zealand in a big way.
BRYAN DEATH: It's keeping it at the top of mind for the people that are watching TV or looking at Travel ads in Sunday newspapers. These plans have been well thought out by a consultant that we brought in. And in conjunction with the companies that manage our marketing in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.
Outside of the urban centres though the return to normalcy has been even slower. But glimmers of hope exist in even the most remote communities. One in particular being Aniwa Island in the country's worst-hit Tafea province where a newly renovated Mama's Cooperative is bustling with activity. The women of Aniwa took over the shop three months after Cyclone Pam and with the help of the Joint UN Community Resilience Project now have a bustling trading hub for local produce and store bought goods. The UNDP's David Malakay says the women worked hard to re-establish the co-operative and it is now helping them be more independent while at the same time catering for needs in the community.
DAVID MALAKAY: So this Aniwa Mama's cooperative is one, is very successful at the moment. It is quite good business is running good with the possibility of expansion into a to run a fisheries compartment within the cooperative and hopefully a micro-finance section within the cooperative.
Looking at the long term, the ease of doing business in Vanuatu has reached an important milestone with the launch of a online business registry that will reduce processing times for setting up new businesses by up to 700 percent. The Vanuatu Financial Services Commission says the new registry along with recent legal reforms in the country will also increase transparency in business and foster opportunities in communities. Commission registration officer Alima Garae says the reforms also cater for individuals to register businesses which opens a new door for locals who might want to start their own version of the women's cooperative in Aniwa.
ALIMA GARAE: Well in this case it would be easier for, they can just start up a business of their own. Without having a, if they want to have just like an ownership of their own they can go ahead and do that without having consent from a second person.
Apart from online registration the registry also allows businesses to maintain company details, pay fees and receive updates and alerts from the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission. A small but important innovation in a country still finding its feet after a devastating natural disaster.
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