Capturing the Opportunities for Transformational Growth 15.

The Pacific faces challenges which

constrain growth. These include difficulties in access; declining competitiveness with dated facilities;
limited demand, particularly from long haul markets and constrained marketing. This is coupled with a
lack of effective data for decision making. It will be necessary for the Pacific to address these underlying
fundamentals in order to build a stronger platform for growth. 16. Realizing the potential growth of
tourism in the Pacific requires a strategy of improving yields and developing markets. It means being less
dependent on Australia and New Zealand markets. To achieve this requires a four part strategy: •
Improving connectivity with growing and established markets. The first step is improving access to long-
haul markets, which has declined over the last decade as demand from northern hemisphere markets
was constrained by the Global Financial Crisis. It requires direct connections between those markets and
PIC11s, avoiding the hubs of Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Guam. vi • Attracting more and higher
yielding tourists. Overcoming dependence on Australia and New Zealand as the principal markets for
PIC11s will require concerted, long-term market development that emphasizes yield, rather than
volume. • Improving the investment climate and the effectiveness of public sector participation in the
sector. There are a number of issues to be managed in ensuring that PIC11 Governments and regional
agencies are equipped to manage the future demands of a fast growing tourist industry, including the
business enabling environment, the quality of the labor force, the effectiveness of public institutions to
attract visitors, and the capacity of regional destination marketing. • Improving the efficiency of the
tourism sector. This would include improving linkages between tourism and the local economy such as
food supplies and services to hotels, improved destination management and strategy, pooling of private
sector resources such as cold storage and access to warehousing financing for this purpose, and regional
training facilities. The Caribbean tourism strategy now incorporates a number these initiatives designed
to improve efficiency. Fiscal revenues from the sector can also be better managed. 17. In addition to
building a stronger platform for growth, PIC11s need to adopt a series of specific actions in order to
capture the four transformational opportunities. Opportunity Actions Required Increasing the Chinese
Marke