6
CoOK ISLANDS SuN
C oo k I slands T ourism
Halatoa Fua,
the gentle giant of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation Three and a half years ago the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation moved away from its inclination to employ marketing-orientated individuals from outside the Cook Islands for the top job of chief executive officer. In December 2012, they filled the position internally with someone with an essentially banking and finance background. he Cook Islands T Tourism Corporation named Halatoa Fua as its new chief executive. He had been the finance director since joining the Corporation in 2010.
With visitor numbers up, strong stakeholder engagement and interest in the Cook Islands at an all time high, it seems the move has worked well. According to Halatoa, a dignified, gently spoken man with a deep sense of commitment, the Board felt the new CEO job should develop more into a general management position with strategic management responsibilities, marketing being just an element of that. He has an open-ended, performance-driven contract: “Keeps me on my toes’ said Halatoa, “I like to work under pressure, that is how I can deliver results. I came into the job to prepare a five-year strategy, which has included developing a long-haul airline strategy to increase capacity from key markets, extending the tourist year to include the
quieter months, providing a targeted approach to destination development, and improving financial prudence within the Corporation.” Halatoa now calls the Cook Islands home. He grew up in Tonga spending some of his childhood in the USA. He built his career in the banking and finance industry in Tonga, Kiribati and the Cook Islands, and has an MBA from the University of the South Pacific (USP). “I came here in 2002 on a six-month secondment with ANZ Bank. Fifteen years later I am still here. I have fallen in love with the place and I am fully committed to the Cook Islands. It is my home now. “At the ANZ Bank most of my customers were tourism operators, so I learned tourism from a risk management perspective and a strong focus on return on investment principles that I now apply in the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation. I got to understand commercial lending in the tourism sector, which I believe is a key stepping stone to developing tourism strategies at a
macro-economic level,” said Halatoa. “I have always had a passion to go into tourism because it is the industry that will provide a sustainable future for our South Pacific people.” Halatoa said the Cook Islands Government’s airline underwrite program has been a major strategy to diversify the inbound market and create gateways from key markets. “We identified Los Angeles and Sydney as important gateways to our Northern Hemisphere markets and will alleviate risk concentration over Auckland as an only gateway to the Cook Islands. These markets attract good visitor yield, longer stay and dispersal to the outer islands, and most importantly they travel in the low and shoulder season. “The reason these routes are underwritten is because at this stage the airlines don’t see those routes as commercially viable in the short term. Our rationale is to develop these routes to become commercially viable in the medium to long term, through greater investment in the right tourism product and continued commitment from Government”. Halatoa said the Tourism Corporation also has a key strategy to explore new markets.
‘Soft explorers’ want a safe island paradise holiday to explore experiences and light adventures beyond the confines of a resort
“Asia continues to show promise, especially China and Japan. We have established representation in both those markets – China in 2013 and Japan in 2014. Our offices there are actively using social media and creating public
Halatoa Fua, CEO Cook Islands Tourism Corporation
relations opportunities, often involving well-known celebrities and engaging with the travel trade. There are also local language websites”. Closer to home, Halatoa said when he came into the new role he was aware of the lack of cohesion between tourism stakeholders, tourism operators, the community and the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation. “I knew we needed to work closely together to succeed. Amongst other things, we have greatly increased our consultation with the industry, including ensuring our overseas representatives make regular updates and presentations to tourism stakeholders.
“I always had a passion to go into tourism…it is the industry that will provide a sustainable future for our South Pacific people” “Our communication with the tourism industry and the community has significantly improved through the introduction of the weekly Coconut Connections e-newsletter, Kia Orana quarterly newsletter, the Kia Orana Values program and the Vaka Pride Competition.” The Kia Orana Values Project was recently developed to strengthen the connections between the community and its heritage…to the Cook Islands’ number one industry – tourism. “Kia Orana is the essence of the Cook Islands people and our culture. It is not only the way we greet each other - it is who we are!”
Kia Orana Ambassadors help strengthen the connections Cycling is one of the many eco tourism activities between the community, its heritage, and tourism (image: Storytellers Eco Cycle Tours)
Halatoa said one of the great advantages Cook Islands Tourism have as an entity is its direct link to the Tourism Minister, who happens to be the Prime Minister – no bureaucracy in between!
“The Government has an annual budgetary system. In the past six years, we have been fortunate with our budget with it more than doubling during that period. Two thirds go to marketing and one third to destination development and operations”. Halatoa attributes this financial support to effective strategies and Government recognition that over 60% of the Cooks GDP is generated from tourism. Other strategies in Halatoa’ five year plan include the expansion of air capacity on current routes, increased global awareness of the Cook Islands, and an investment strategy (a government incentive to encourage reinvigoration, refurbishment and new investment for targeted areas in the Cook Islands), develop the Cook Islands Sustainable Tourism Policies, human resource development in Tourism and, notably, the introduction of a new brand for the Cook Islands – ‘Love a little Paradise’. In December 2015, Cook Islands Tourism rolled out its first-ever global brand positioned on the tagline ‘Love a little paradise’, which aims to differentiate the Cook Islands nation of just 20000 inhabitants and its fifteen islands from its key competitors, and to raise awareness with a key visitor segment identified as ‘soft explorers’. According to research, ‘soft explorers’ want an island paradise holiday where they can safely explore a variety of experiences and light adventures beyond the confines of a resort. They also value authentic interactions with locals. They ‘love a little paradise’. Halatoa pointed out that sustainable growth is critical to the future of the Cook Islands because of limited land available for development, which limits the number and size of resorts. “We want to target ‘soft explorers’ to grow the value of tourism, as opposed to the volume.”
“This year we are finalizing our sustainable tourism policies as one of the key outputs of the Destination Development department. It’s a collaborative approach related to waste management, nature protection and cultural heritage conservation - anything to do with the sustainability of our people, experiences, and the environment will add to the uniqueness of the Cook Islands. “We believe the sustainable tourism policy go hand in hand with the investment policy. We don’t want the investment strategy to come in at the expense of the people or the environment”. Overall Halatoa is in happy place right now: “Arrivals this year have increased by double-digit numbers from all key markets. The increase in air capacity has played a key role, together with a consistent marketing strategy across its global representation”. Whilst arrival numbers have been on the up, Halatoa identified the three ‘corporate’ challenges to be addressed in Cook Islands Tourism Strategic Management Plan: the lack of a global brand, a poorly designed website, and decentralised creative agencies across major markets. The ‘Love a little paradise’ brand has now been successfully introduced, a new corporate website is due by the end of the year, and steps are being taken to implement the brand globally and consistently. On the domestic front, Halatoa is working closely with the Tourism Board to address key destination social and environmental risks, such as the ‘growing dog population’ and the ‘lagoon health’ - two such issues on the radar. “We are not mandated to control the country’s environment issues but we can, and do, influence them and work collaboratively with our Government partners.” Halatoa Fua, who has had a challenging start to his role as CEO of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation, concluded: “I am excited and optimistic about the future of tourism in the Cook Islands.”