Despite the threat and impact of natural disasters, tourists will continue to flock to the Pacific, says a touring Australian Pacific diplomat.
Bob McMullan, Australia's Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance, began his two week trip to Tonga, Samoa and Cook Islands yesterday.
While he expects longer term consequences on the tourism industry in Samoa and Tonga, because of their impact on tourist infrastructure, he believes that peoples image of the Pacific would not change.
“There is nowhere in the world you can go where there is not a bit of risk, so I think people will continue to think that Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands - these are all great places to go for holidays and people will keep going there I think,” McMullan said in an interview with Radio Australia.
“So I think we can avoid it having a long term impact, but of course, it will have a short term disruption, most particularly in Samoa, but throughout the region.”
Meanwhile, the tsunami alerts that have only recently hit Fiji have provided a wake-up call for Government and for the people of Fiji.
“We urgently need to have more awareness and training for public servants in order to better prepare for this somewhat new category of natural disasters,” said Parmesh Chand, the permanent secretary of Fiji’s Public Service.
He said the Public Service Commission has facilitated the attendance of an officer from the Department of Mineral Resources at the first meeting of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Task Team in Vanuatu.
The PSC has also approved the participation of an official from the Ministry of Health at the Asia Pacific Emergency and Disaster Nursing Network Meeting in Australia.
An education officer will also be attending a Group Training Course on Safer Schools Against Disasters. The course which spans over one month will be held in Japan.
Fiji will also be represented at a workshop on severe weather situations which will be held in Samoa, beginning this week.
Fijilive
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