HAT201 Hospitality: Analyzing Ethical Issues in Vanuatu Tourism

This case study delves into the ethical and governing issues plaguing Vanuatu's hospitality and tourism sector, as highlighted in the "Vanuatu's Broken Dreams" video. It identifies corruption, inadequate sanitation, and lack of access to basic amenities like clean water and electricity as key challenges. The analysis explores the role of P&O Cruises and their impact on the local economy, while also questioning their ethical responsibilities. The study holds the Vanuatu government accountable for the widespread corruption and lack of infrastructure development, further examining how Australian aid could be better utilized. Recommendations include stricter law enforcement, increased business opportunities, and investment in sustainable energy solutions to improve the lives of the Ni-Vanuatu people. Desklib is a valuable resource for students seeking similar case studies and academic support.

Running head: HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM IN VANUATU
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Introduction to
Hospitality and
Tourism
Student Name

HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM IN VANUATU 1
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................2
The prime Ethical and Governing issues presented in the report..........................................2
Role of P&O Cruises............................................................................................................4
Who is responsible for rectifying issues ?.............................................................................4
How could the government have resolved the issues?..........................................................5
Recommendations to overcome the issues............................................................................6
Conclusion................................................................................................................................7
References................................................................................................................................8

HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM IN VANUATU 2
Introduction
Vanuatu is located in the Southwestern Pacific ocean with the total population of 208,869.
Over 2500 years ago this group of islands were home for Melanesians and known by the
name of "New Hebrides" which was given by captain James cook in 1774. There are 83
islands in Vanuatu, where 13 are larger and remaining 70 are small ones (Worldatlas, 2018).
The People of Vanuatu speaks many languages such as English, French, Pidgin, and Bislama.
Vanuatu people faced lots of issues and natural disasters each year. Some of the issues that
are raised in past few years such as lack of money, slow development rate, corruption.
Various ethical and governmental issues will be discussed in this report. The role of P & O
cruises will also be mentioned. The people or organization responsible for issues and the
recommendations to solve these problems will also be provided in this report.
The prime Ethical and Governing issues presented in the report
The Video named Broken dreams was beautifully picturized and presented the basic issues
that should be rectified for the better development of Vanuatu. The Vanuatu citizens are
facing a number of issues. It can not be denied that Since gaining independence in 1980, the
country fought with many issues that are stopping the nation to grow faster. The people of
Vanuatu are familiar with corruption and political issues for many years. According to a
report published in the economist twenty-two, Prime Ministers has been changed in Vanuatu
since its independence (the economist, 2015). On 14 October 2015 fourteen ministers were
caught in a bribery case and sentenced 10 years of prison but the Parliament speaker freed
himself in the absence of prime minister and broke the laws that are equal for everyone. The
corruption was spread in all over the country in 2015 (News, 2015). In the video "Vanuatu's
Broken Dreams" even the Deputy prime minister Moana Carcasses accepted that the
corruption is everywhere (SBS Dateline, 2013).

HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM IN VANUATU 3
Vanuatu people also mentioned they do not have basic facilities such as toilets, homes water.
There are some community toilets that are only for visitors and not for the the local people.
After the tourists left the island the door of these toilets closed until the next visit of
foreigners. The another issue raised in Vanuatu is the politicians live luxury life and the
public is still living in poverty (SBS, 2013). The money comes from the cruises is still not
used properly for the development of Vanuatu. Most of the population of Vanuatu depend
upon the cruises visits the island and when they are gone there is no source of income.
However, there is some small business started by a group of people but tourism is still the
main source of money. Most of the population lives in damaged homes with lack of
electricity and drinking water facilities. They have no proper shelter to live and no hygienic
food. Most of the people used to cook food in open areas without any gas facilities. Some of
them have a generator but no fuels to operate the machines. Many people have been dead by
the problem of lack of hygiene and sanitation (Carter et al., 2016). There are no facilities to
save the rainwater. Another basic issue is water pollution which was the reason for health-
related issues among the people of Vanuatu (World Health Organisation, 2015). The lack of
knowledge and black magic believe among people was another concern. The farmers of
Vanuatu do not even know how to deal with the money comes from cruises. Electricity is
also the major issue in Vanuatu. Some of the people used solar lights as a source of electricity
but most of the population relies on torches and kerosene lights. People of Vanuatu living
with these issues and trying to overcome the adverse situations. This beautiful nation has
always been an attraction for visitors. P & O cruises are well know for taking people to
Vanuatu.
Role of P&O Cruises
This beautiful city is the attraction for many cruises like P & O Cruises, Holland America,
Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn etc. P&O is the most common cruise to visit

HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM IN VANUATU 4
Vanuatu every year. These cruises are the major source of income for Vanuatu people. The
tourism industry added around 1.2 million to the Vanuatu economy (IUCN, 2012). P&O
cruises traveled to many places such as bay of island, Brisbane, Pago-Pago, and Vanuatu.
Nearly 300000 tourists visit Vanuatu every year. the P & O cruises have been visiting south
pacific for more than 85 years (Pacific Trade Invest, 2018). There is a market made by
Vanuatu peoples especially for visitors comes from different countries. This market becomes
the attractions for tourists and people love to visit many times. Stalls of Handicrafts and food
items are there and earning a good income. This market only opens up when cruses visit
Vanuatu (Net Balance Management Group, 2014). P&O also provide employment
opportunity to the Ni-Vanuatu. increased the employment opportunity for the Ni-Vanuatu.
Hundreds of Ni-Vanuatu already work on P & O cruises to help the tourist. The P & O
Pacific made an agreement with ave the children fund to build health post and to develop
infrastructure and business in Vanuatu. The cava juice is also famous among the tourists. To
make extra money the many stalls of locally made products have been settled in the cruise
tourism market. These stalls growing faster and making a satisfying income for Vanuatu
(P&O, 2016). P & O cruise have a positive impact on the economy of Vanuatu and these
ships are providing them an opportunity to grow financially (DailyPost, 2018).
Who is responsible for rectifying issues?
The government officials are the main reason behind most of the issues in Vanuatu. The
corruption spread in all over the country. The poverty and health issues were never
considered by the government. The corruption was noticed by the whole world when the 14
ministers were imprisoned by Vanuatu court for bribery case. Even the deputy prime minister
was found guilty. (News, 2015).
The lack knowledge is the reason behind the health issues and hygiene problems. The are no
facilities provided to save the rainwater. Behind the sanitation or toilet issues, unmanaged

HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM IN VANUATU 5
water pollution was also a reason. Water is easily available there but the quality is poor.
There are no facilities to collect the rainwater. In March 2015 when a cyclone pam hit
Vanuatu it affects the whole nation adversely and affected most of the population. This
happened because there was no preparation for facing such disasters. It was no the first time
when Vanuatu faced cyclones but still, they were not prepared. After the cyclone, they fail to
maintain the damaged infrastructure even after the great financial help from many countries
like Australia (The Australian, 2018).
Most of the population have no electricity facilities to light their houses and other purposes.
The reason is the electricity prices that are too high and the people are unable to afford (The
world bank, 2015). The government is accountable for the electricity issues (Reeep, 2012).
How could the government have resolved the issues?
Australia is helping Vanuatu for many years and continues the bond with the Vanuatu
government for the development of that nation. According to a report published by
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT, 2017), Australia provided nearly $50
million for the long-term construction in Vanuatu. The Australian government and other non-
government organizations (NGO's) continue to help Vanuatu to reduce health issues and
education issues. The Australian ad Vanuatu made an agreement to overcome some issues
like education, safety, reconstruction and economic opportunities. Many projects have been
started by the Australian government to solve electricity issues. The world bank invested in
Vanuatu to provide electricity to the Ni-Vanuatu at affordable prices. The project started by
world bank with Australia, helping Vanuatu government to provide 90 % electricity access
before 2020 (The World Bank, 2015). The funding provided by Australian government of
construction and rain harvesting equipment. The economy has been growing with the help of
Australian government and continuously to investing for the development of Vanuatu
(Australian Government, 2018). But still, there are some issues that are not solved yet. After

HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM IN VANUATU 6
the cyclone, Australia continues to support Vanuatu for the infrastructure which was
damaged like roads, and school buildings. DFAT report also stated that the help provided by
the Australian government was not fast enough (DFAT, 2017). Both the governments should
have focused on the small issues and help the nation by providing the basic facilities like
toilets and income sources. There should be punishment for the people involved in corruption
equally.
Recommendations to overcome the issues.
1. Some of the hard decision should be taken by the government to maintain the law and
for the safety of the people of Vanuatu. The punishment should be there for everyone
equally no matter the person belongs to the normal population or a government
official. Most of the issues raised in Vanuatu is because of corruption. That should be
rectified. The business opportunities should be increased in the Pacific. Knowledge
about handling cash and business to the farmer should be provided by the government
officials.
2. There are various business opportunities in Vanuatu but because of lack of
development and knowledge, people are failed to use them. The lack of employment
and education corruption is increasing, by providing employment opportunity the
basic needs of the people will be fulfilled and that might reduce the corruption. The
government should also focus on education and build schools or education institutes
for children.
3. Electricity is the main pillar of development for any country. Vanuatu faced
electricity problem for many years that should be considered by the government at the
higher priority. Solar energy could be the source of electricity. Although some of the
people in Vanuatu using solar light. But it still needs to be developed so that everyone
can use it.

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Conclusion
Vanuatu is a group of islands previously known as "New Hebrides". After analyzing the
problems faced by Vanuatu people it was found that corruption, sanitation, lack of water, lack
of electricity are the main issues of Vanuatu. The government of Vanuatu was found to be
responsible for the problems. The Vanuatu economy is slowly growing with help of P & O
cruises and by selling some products and handicrafts to the tourists comes to visit. Australia
continuously helping the nation to develop in every sector. It can be recommended that small
but important issues like electricity, lack of employment, hygiene issues, health problems
should be considered by the government.

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References
Australian Government. (2018) Development assistance in Vanuatu [online]. Available from:
http://dfat.gov.au/geo/vanuatu/development-assistance/Pages/development-assistance-in-
vanuatu.aspx [Accessed 5 June 2018].
Carter, K., Tovu, V., Langati, J.T., Buttsworth, M., Dingley, L., Calo, A., Harrison, G., Rao,
C., Lopez, A.D., and Taylor, R., (2016) Causes of death in Vanuatu. Population health
metrics. 14(1), p.7.
Dailypost (2018) over 300000 cruise passengers per year [online]. Available from:
http://dailypost.vu/news/over-cruise-passengers-per-year/article_88cbb5ed-6b4e-5758-9523-
b5b2dc87a554.html [Accessed 5 June 2018].
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2017) humanitarian assistance in the Pacific
[online]. Available from:
http://dfat.gov.au/aid/how-we-measure-performance/ode/Documents/cyclone-pam-
evaluation-brief.pdf [Accessed 5 June 2018].
IUCN (2012) fishing and tourism in the Vanuatu economy [online]. Available from:
https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2012-044.pdf [Accessed 5 June
2018].
Net Balance Management Group (2014) Assessment of the economic impact of cruise ships to
Vanuatu [online]. Available from:
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/23836/Assessment0of00ps0to
0Vanuatu0report.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y [Accessed 5 June 2018].
News (2015) Vanuatu court finds 14 MPs, including deputy pPM Moana Carcasses, guilty
over bribery charges [online]. Available from:

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-09/vanuatu-court-rules-on-mps-corruption-case/
6842050 [Accessed 5 June 2018].
P&O Cruises (2016) P&O becomes first cruise line to showcase Vanuatu products [online]
Available from: https://www.pocruises.com.au/media-releases/2016/2016-december-14
[Accessed 5 June 2018].
Pacific Trade invests ( 2018) An historic Export agreement for Vanuatu and the South Pacific
[online]. Available from:
https://pacifictradeinvest.com/resources/pacific-insights/posts/2018/april/an-historic-export-
agreement-for-vanuatu-and-the-south-pacific/
Reeep (2013) Vanuatu 2012 [online]. Available from: https://www.reeep.org/vanuatu-2012
[Accessed 6 June 2018].
SBS Dateline (2013) Vanuatu’s broken dreams [online]. Available from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMACsi8j3us [Accessed 6 June 2018].
The Australian (2018) DFAT’s cyclone help for Vanuatu “has not met the expectation’
[online]. Available from: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/foreign-affairs/
dfats-cyclone-help-for-vanuatu-has-not-met-expectations/news-story/
d6bf73a31a447cd1959fab93f5161219 [Accessed 5 June 2018].
The World Bank (2015) power to the people in Vanuatu [online]. Available from:
http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/10/21/power-to-the-people-in-vanuatu
[Accessed 5 June 2018].
WHO (2015) Vanuatu [online]. Available from: http://www.who.int/water
sanitation_health/monitoring/investments/vanuatu-10-nov.pdf [ Accessed 5 June 2018].

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Worldatlas (2018) Vanuatu [online]. Available From:
https://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/oceania/vu.htm [Accessed 5 june 2018].