Building Sustainable Tourism For Pacific Nations

Public Relations
Waikato Management School
The University of Waikato
Hamilton
New Zealand

MEDIA RELEASE

17 June 2007

Building sustainable tourism for Pacific communities

As the Pacific becomes an attractive holiday destination for the emerging middle class in Asia and South America, Pacific Island nations are having to decide how best to handle growing visitor numbers without damaging local communities. It's a topic that will be discussed at a conference on sustainable development being held in Vanuatu later this month.

Dr Anne Zahra of the University of Waikato Management School, who'll be chairing a sustainable tourism workshop at the conference, says sustainability is a big issue for tourism in the Pacific. "Managing the growing demand from Asia and South America will involve balancing the needs of visitors with the impact on local communities, such as issues of water and waste disposal on small islands, and the environmental impact of importing food."

Dr Zahra is among more than 30 experts on sustainable development, international tourism, indigenous communities and corporate ethics gathering in the Vanuatu capital, Port Vila, for the first full conference of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Business in Society (APABIS).

Jointly organised by the University of Waikato Management School and the University of the South Pacific, the conference will focus on communities and sustainable development.

One of the keynote speakers at the conference, Professor Jim McMaster of the University of the South Pacific, says business incubators can be the most cost-effective way to generate new jobs in a community. "But they've got to be financially hard-headed and focus on serving companies, rather than managing buildings, raising money or holding politicians' hands."

Also speaking at the conference will be John Perrottet, an expert on international tourism development with PEP-Pacific, which works with the World Bank to provide advisory services to private sector entrepreneurs in Pacific Island countries; Professor Michael Stohl of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who will focus on globalisation; and Professor Tamati Reedy of the University of Waikato, who will speak on Maori sustainable enterprise.

Professor Juliet Roper of Waikato Management School, who founded APABIS with the endorsement of the European Academy of Business in Society, says the conference will bring together researchers and practitioners.

"We believe successful business is based on a full and constructive engagement with the welfare of the communities it serves," says Prof Roper. "APABIS aims to create a network of research and practice across the Asia-Pacific region, and we hope this conference will aid that process."

The APABIS conference, Communities and Sustainable Development, will be held at Le Meridien Port Vila Resort in Vanuatu on 25-27 June 2007. For more details visit www.management.ac.nz/apabis

ENDS

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