Cruise Travelers Consumer Research has commenced
Media Release - Port Vila, Vanuatu, 15 February 2023: The Vanuatu Tourism Office (VTO) is proud to announce the commencement of the Cruise Travelers Consumer Research on the 3rd of February this month. The research is being carried out in close collaboration with the Department of Tourism (DoT), Vanuatu Bureau of Statistics (VBoS), Reserve Bank of Vanuatu (RVB) and the Vanuatu Skills Partnership (VSP) beginning with the Port Vila port of call.
The research is kicking off in Port Vila due to the frequency of cruise visits and high traffic of cruise traveller arrivals to this port of call based on the cruise schedule for February 2023.
The target group for this research is the ‘Free Independent Travelers' (FIT) who are the cruise visitors who book their own tours, activities and arrangements pre-arrival and/or post-arrival in Port Vila. To carry out this research with this target group, cruise visitors are provided with QR codes during their visit to the VTO Travel & Information Centres located at the wharf and downtown Port Vila.
The objective of the Cruise Travelers Consumer Survey is to collect feedback and assess consumer sentiments provided about their overall experiences of Port Vila’s tourism products and services offered. This covers feedback on tours, transport, places visited, artisan & handicraft products, locally made commodities, places to eat, friendliness of Port Vila’s hospitality, visitor satisfaction rating and most importantly to understand the spending behaviour of the FITs.
In order to create awareness and buy-in from the FITs, a short awareness video has been created to promote the cruise travelers consumer research so that travellers understand the importance of participating in this survey, for the strengthening of Vanuatu’s cruise market as per the Vanuatu Sustainable Cruise Tourism Development Plan.
VTO Business Intelligence Manager, Mr Warren Gama states that “It’s important to always assess the effectiveness of our marketing activities alongside the tourism offerings through valuable consumer research. However, we already know in general that we have a lot to improve on and for the purposes of preparing and providing affordable and great visitor experiences, it is relevant that such consumer research provides us with updated insights and data for decision making.”
The survey is coordinated through the VTO Business Intelligence Program with the data analysis and report to be released on a six-month basis and shared with the tourism Industry, Partners and Government stakeholders.
“For the efficient recovery of Vanuatu’s tourism industry, we need to be able to pinpoint exactly what, where and how we can improve through accurate data and insights. I’m grateful for the opportunity for our team to work closely with our partners in this Cruise Consumer Research. The Vanuatu tourism industry is rebuilding itself each time any international & domestic visitor is using their services and in order to improve further, we use data to guide our investments for improvement. Together we are re-setting and rebuilding an adventurous tourist destination for all our visitors” says the VTO CEO.
