Port Vila International Airport Consumer Research & 2022 International Visitors Survey Results
An enumerator, carrying out the International Airport Consumer Research survey with a visitor.
Media Release - Port Vila, 22 November 2022: The Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) in collaboration with the Department of Tourism (DoT), Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO), Airports Vanuatu Limited (AVL) and the Australian Government funded program Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP), carried out an International Consumer Research Survey at the Port Vila International Airport from October 01 – October 21, 2022.
The objective of the consumer research was to collect information and intelligence that will help the Vanuatu Tourism Office to better understand the visitors’ points of satisfactions and intentions, as well as to gain more strategic marketing insights.
The Business Intelligence (BI) Program under the Vanuatu Tourism Office coordinated the consumer research and engaged nine (9) young enumerators to carry out the case study and to also gain experience towards their tertiary studies.
The enumerators conducted the research with the October flights departing Port Vila and had successfully conducted interviews with a total of 635 international visitors returning back to their countries of origin.
The results of the research will assist the Department of Tourism and Vanuatu Tourism Office to strengthen their products and services offering, and guide us to be accurate in our estimate in visitors’ volume and spending and enhance our communication with the Government of Vanuatu and Tourism partners and stakeholders.
Some of the insights showed that 82% of the respondents were here on holiday whilst 9% were on business trips and 5% responded to visiting friends and family as their main reason for visiting.
Majority of respondents also reported that tours and activities and the local people of Vanuatu were their main highlights of their trip to Vanuatu.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Adela Issachar-Aru “It’s no secret that many of our visitors have been returning to our shores over the years because they love our islands and our people — especially the smiles and the radiating care that translates easily past the obvious language barriers.
“It’s great to collect these data & insights to not only support what we already know but also to show us which areas need strengthening and improvement”.
Download Airport International Consumer Survey Results Here.
International Visitors Survey (IVS)
The VTO in collaboration with the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute (NZTRI) also resumed the International Visitors Survey (IVS) in August 2022 after Vanuatu re-opened its border to travel and trade in July 2022.
The assistance of the Vanuatu National Statistics Office (VNSO) collated the email addresses of international visitors' from the arrival cards and shared this information with NZTRI who conducted the survey in all our short and long-haul markets.
The data and insights collected from the IVS are relevant for planning, investment and marketing purposes to assist the Vanuatu Tourism Office and the Department of Tourism to better understand the profile of the visitors and their level of satisfaction of the products and services offered in Vanuatu.
Of the 3,510 visitors to Vanuatu in July 2022, 10% of the July 2022 visitors responded to the IVS allowing the VTO and NZTRI to put together a snapshot of the key indicator comparison of the survey for Jul – Sept 2019 vs July 2022.
