Crisis in the Solomons?

The distinction between a tourism crisis and a hazard featured in our Special Feature Report by David Beirman yesterday has been sharply exposed by the outbreak of political violence in the Solomon Islands capital Honiara on April 18th, 2005.

Initial media coverage of the politically motivated violence in response to installation of newly elected Prime Minister Snyder Rini has suggested that there is a national crisis.

The Australian government’s decision to heighten the warning level of its travel advisory and the decision to despatch troops to reinforce the police presence, following injuries to 15 Australian police has all the hallmarks of a tourism crisis.  

Attempting to elicit comments from Solomon Airways, the national carrier or the Australian representatives of the Solomon Islands Visitors Centre is at best a frustrating exercise. They all seem to have gone to ground and the silence adds to the perception that there is a real crisis.

Nick Blanche, Manager of Queensland based Go Tours Travel, a tour operators which specialises in the Solomon Islands was able to do what officialdom was unable to do and placed the current events in their wider context, by stating, “the violence is largely confined to the Chinatown district of Honiara and was primarily motivated by allegations of vote buying by certain ethnic Chinese business identities”. 

Mr Blanche added, “I believe the violence will pass quickly, will be confined to a very limited area and will have minimal impact on tourism to the Solomon Islands”.

The impact on Go Tours eco-tourism programs is expected to be negligible as most of his programs and those of other dive and eco tourism operators tend to avoid central Honiara and outside the immediate area of the disturbances, the Solomon Islands remain calm and hospitable to tourists.

If Mr Blanche’s assessment is correct then the outbreak in Honiara fits the definition of an avoidable hazard for tourists rather than a crisis.  The challenge for the Solomon Island’s tourist authorities becomes one of effectively communicating the situation to minimise the prevailing perception that the destination is experiencing a crisis, which I believe it is not!

Report by David Beirman – TravelMole’s tourism hazard and crisis specialist