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What would happen if the
Marshall Islands had direct flights to Asia? That was the
question posed by Marshall Islands Visitors Authority
general manager Mark Stege to tourism industry stakeholders
at the first ever Marshall Islands Tourism Symposium.
The answer, for now, is
simple: The Marshall Islands is not ready.
Participants of the
symposium spent two days covering a wide range of issues
from marketing and promotions, policy, planning and
development, tourism and environmental awareness to human
resources development, in order to identify the hindrances
to tourism development in the Marshall Islands.
After the break-out
sessions, Rongelap Mayor James Matayoshi, who was involved
in the policy, planning and development committee reported
the top five areas of hindrances to tourism development
which were identified by the working group. These are:
• Transportation:
particularly between the outer islands and the main urban
centers with connecting international flights.
•Coordination: Among
authorities, national government, local governments, and
landowners.
• Current weakness of the
National Training Council: In addressing the training needs
of the tourism industry.
• Role of MIDB: Current
focus on personal loans rather than commercial business
loans.
“All of these issues hinder
development of tourism in the Marshall Islands, but the main
hindrance is lack of coordination,” said Matayoshi.
Matayoshi’s statements were
further stressed by committee chairman Ben Chutaro. “The
governments’ national coordinating committee needs to
convene regularly”, he said. “Having a stronger network will
strengthen protocols that are necessary to ensure that there
is better coordination among government departments, thus
ensuring that everyone is working in the same direction.”
Participants to the
symposium also identified the need for human resources and
development for the industry to develop.
The tourism industry is a
labor-intensive industry and if developed, could address the
31.1 percent unemployment rate of the Marshall Islands.
Creating jobs not only in the urban centers, but most
importantly in the outer islands, which, according to most
observers, are the true assets for tourism development for
the Marshall Islands.
Mark Canney, Asian
Development Bank’s project manager for the national
vocational and training institute, addressed participants of
the tourism symposium and presented the goals of the
Ministry of Education (MOE) to address the training needs of
the nation, stating that during the next 20 year’s MOE will
received between $12-$15 million annually in funding.
“Our [NVTI] objective is to make Marshall Islands citizens
trainable,” said Canney.
Although the MOE’s
development goals under the NVTI program address training
needs for Marshallese who have fallen out of the education
system, there is still the question of getting students to
consider tourism careers.
Marshall Islands Resort’s Hirobo Obeketang who cochaired the
Human Resources and Development committee with Janet Hess
from the College of Marshall Islands identified “fear of
choosing a tourism career” as the main hindrance for tourism
development in terms of human capital.
“Students could choose a
tourism career but is there really a tourism industry here
for them to enter into?” asked Obeketang. “This is what
students are asking themselves. Even if we provide training,
the enrolments are low because students don’t see a future
in tourism. The problem we need to solve now is creating an
interest in the industry not just for the government and
private sector investor but for the students who are looking
for a future career. The young need to be able to see the
potential for tourism in the Marshall Island, and the career
potentials.”
There is a basic formula
for economic development, which is applied all over the
world, and for the Marshall Islands it’s no different.
Before the tourism industry
can develop it needs to address its land, labor, and capital
issues.
Amenta Matthews, Director
of the Marshall Islands Land Registry Authority, took the
opportunity to address the symposium to explain the
functions of the office.
While many participants
were confused about the role of this new office, much of
that confusion was cleared up through the open discussions
held after the presentation.
Land has always been a
sensitive issue in the Marshall Islands but without the land
registry office to record true titleholders of a parcel of
land, tourism development and any other development will be
further hindered.
“Once your land is
registered, you will obtain a land title certificate that
will identify you as the true owner of the land,” said
Matthews “With that you can use it to attract investors
because it guarantees them a secured lease or you can use it
as collateral to obtain loans with the banks.”
The overall goal of the
tourism symposium was to set a direction for MIVA to
establish the Marshall Islands long-term tourism development
plan. |
