Travel and Tourism in American Samoa

Number of arrivals remains stagnant

The number of arrivals to American Samoa remained stable in 2013. The majority of arrivals remained the same with Samoa ranking ahead followed by arrivals from the US. The easy accessibility from Samoa explains its high number of arrivals as well as many visiting friends and relatives residing in American Samoa. Since American Samoa is part of the US, it is also easy for US citizens to arrive but accessibility still depends largely on Honolulu and Samoa due to its geographical location among the Polynesian areas.

Focusing on day trips from cruises passengers

While the number of arrivals remained stable, American Samoa focused on getting more cruises to stopover allowing passengers to alight and explore the group of islands on day trips. The total number of passengers these cruises carried in 2013 was much higher than the number of arrivals. Although they spend less time and money in American Samoa, they do not need much extra tourism infrastructure to meet the large demand. In 2013, there were 14 cruises arriving at American Samoa from the US, Europe and Australia.

No need to expand tourism infrastructure as yet

Although there have been talks to build more hotels in American Samoa, the low occupancy rate among travel accommodation and stable number of arrives has meant no rush in executing the plan. As American Samoa Visitors Bureau focuses on attracting more cruises to stop over during the day, it is not necessary to build more travel accommodation and other tourism facilities which already meet the demand of these cruise passengers.

Strategy from the board

American Samoa Visitors Bureau attempted to attract a higher number of arrivals, including from the European countries as travellers visit neighbouring Samoa together as a package but to not much avail. The strategy of attracting a higher number of cruises has proved to be effective and operational on the group of islands with limited infrastructure for tourism.

Future plans

As American Samoa remains “undiscovered” by many visitors, American Samoa Visitors Bureau will continue to promote its natural beauty and culture to other countries. With an increased allowance for financial year 2014, the organisation will be able to bring in more resources to promote its tourism. It will also continue to focus on the strategy on attracting more cruise ships to stopover so that it does not need to invest much in tourism infrastructure to meet any growing demand. This will also act as a buffer in case there is any downturn in tourism that facilities become underutilised.

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