Impressions of Vanuatu: Perceptions and Potential of Adventure Travel in the Island Nation

Between June and July 2023, the ATTA surveyed the international adventure travel trade community to learn about the current perceptions of Vanuatu as an adventure destination. This report is now available here for free to ATTA members (including community members). 

Click Here to Download the Report

As a country famous for its scuba diving and an active volcano, Vanuatu’s connection to adventure is natural. In order to understand the interest, attractiveness, and promotion of the country, ATTA has collected feedback from travel advisors and tour operators primarily situated in North America followed by Europe and Oceania. 

Key findings from the report include:

Perception of Vanuatu

• Respondents rated Vanuatu’s adventure tourism as above average (7.04 out of 10), but indicated there is still some room for improvement.
• When people think of Vanuatu in general, they think of words like tropical, unique, exotic, remote, and beach.
• When people think of Vanuatu’s adventure travel offerings, they think of words like diving, snorkeling, and other water sports, and unknown (meaning they are not aware of what Vanuatu has to offer adventure travelers).
• The respondents who currently offer Vanuatu or intend to do so in the future view the country’s adventure travel services as average, and note that international flight availabiliity, consumer demand, and tourist volume have room for improvement. 
  

Offering Vanuatu

• 15% of all respondents currently offer tours to Vanuatu, and another 77% are interested in doing so in the future.
• Soft adventures, custom adventures, and cultural-based adventures are the most popular trip itineraries offered in Vanuatu.  
• The top reasons for not offering Vanuatu are the distance needed to travel, a lack of demand for Vanuatu from their clients, and a lack of knowledge about local activity companies and DMCs to work with.
• About half (42%) of respondents work with a DMC in Vanuatu, 33% go to local providers, and 25% do something else (e.g., only sell through larger tour operators).

Promoting Vanuatu

• 9 of 10 respondents perceive FAM tours as the most helpful way to promote Vanuatu, followed by destination webinars and connections to quality local DMCs, suppliers, and guides.

Getting to Vanuatu is perceived as challenging, with international flight availability scoring below average. Many adventure travel businesses include in their portfolio destinations that offer similar attractiveness factors as Vanuatu but are easier to reach. 

Other issues with the development of Vanuatu as an adventure travel destination reside, according to respondents, in a lack of demand from clients and in the challenge of finding local DMCs or operators to collaborate with. The quality of operators also scored only slightly above average, which signals room for additional training. 

Overall, Vanuatu shows great potential for future promotion and development of the adventure travel industry, especially when it comes to soft, cultural, and custom-based adventures. The most popular adventure activities are mainly connected to water and mountains which showcases the power of natural resources of the destination. 

Although only 15% of respondents have Vanuatu on offer, a majority intend to do so in the future. The survey also highlighted that the destination is still shrouded in mystery. In response to the question: “What are the top 3 words that come to your mind when thinking about Vanuatu’s adventure tourism,” many participants answered “unknown.” Therefore, activities such as FAM trips and webinars can help to promote Vanuatu and mediate new partnerships. 

To learn more about the findings from this research project and recommendations for Vanuatu and other destinations, click here to download the report.

Adventure Travel Trade Perceptions of a Destination are ATTA’s surveys to gain up-to-date insight into the status of destinations. They are conducted to understand, among others, the perception, potential, attractiveness, and promotion of a destination. By understanding these, the ATTA can provide training and tools to improve the benchmarking and events to mediate collaboration.