Impact of P&O Cruises on Vanuatu: An Ethical and Governance Report

This report examines the complex issues surrounding tourism in Vanuatu, particularly in the context of P&O Cruises' operations and the 'Broken Dream' video. It delves into the ethical and governance challenges faced by the local islanders, highlighting the disparity between the potential benefits of tourism and the actual living conditions. The report identifies key problems, including government corruption, lack of infrastructure, and the unequal distribution of wealth generated by tourism. It analyzes the roles of the Vanuatu and Australian governments, as well as P&O Cruises, in addressing these issues. Furthermore, the report offers recommendations for rectifying the situation, emphasizing the need for collaboration between stakeholders to ensure the welfare of the islanders and promote sustainable tourism practices. The report underscores the ethical responsibilities of all parties involved and suggests how to improve the lives of the people of Vanuatu.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive summary
The purpose of the following paper is to bring out the condition that has turned out in Vanuatu
after the P&O Cruise ships arrived at Wala Island in Vanuatu and the dream that the native
islanders saw about the improvement of the conditions. The thing took turn in the opposite
direction. The issues that were mainly responsible for this have been identified. The ethical and
governing issues have been analyzed as well. The problems that were faced and the probable
recommendations have been made as well. The role of the government in this context has been
analyzed and discussed thoroughly.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
The ethical and governing issues.....................................................................................................3
P&O Cruises Activity......................................................................................................................4
Rectification of the issues................................................................................................................5
Resolving of the identified issues by the government.....................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................6
Recommendation no 1.................................................................................................................6
Recommendation no 2.................................................................................................................7
Recommendation no 3.................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The following paper discusses upon the various issues that had happened in the Broken
Dream video in respect to the Vanuatu government. There have been several problems that the
local people of the community face. These problems have been overlooked by the government
after the independence from the British colonials. They have felt that there needs to be a well
established governing system that could support the needs of the government. These things have
not been treated with utmost importance by the government rather they have put the money away
from the hands of the islanders and this has effectively hindered the growth of Vanuatu as a
progressive nation as a whole. These problems regarding the ethical concerns and the governing
problems will have to be discussed in this paper along with the PO act and the ways these
problems can be adjusted. The recommendations have to be made in this regard as to how the
services can be developed.
The ethical and governing issues
One of the major earning points for the Vanuatu government has been the coming of the
cruise ships and the tourists (Cohen and Cohen 2012). The tourists come to that spot for enjoying
the beauty of the spot. Whenever these cruises arrive, the local community people of Vanuatu are
very much elated. This is because the money that is earned from the visiting of the cruise ships
could have brought development and progress to the lives of the islanders but the outcome has
been completely different. There have been some serious governing issues in this context. The
government has been squandering all the money that they get from the arrival of the cruise ships.
The tourists have built good toilets, water system and other facilities whenever they come into
the place. The people of the local community have not been able to get those facilities as they do
not have the authority or the money to build those basic facilities like good water system, public

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toilets, primary schools for kids and some others. They have been deprived of these facilities
(Scheyvens and Russell 2013).
The ethical issues include the facts that they have been the politicians live in huge luxury
while the local people live in utter poverty. They do not have a clean water system as well. The
corruption has been there at all the levels and the government is not that much interested to take
care of those poor people. The economy of that area has been completely destroyed and the
government has yet not shown any attempt to improve the situation. The annual financial reports
from 2004 to 2012 have been missing as well so this means that there has been a huge
squandering of money (News 2017).
P&O Cruises Activity
The P&O Cruises from Australia has been the source for earning money from the tourists
in the Port Vila and Wala. Wala has been the prime destination for the tourists who have been on
their way to discovering a new horizon for travel (Pocruises.com 2017). The local community
people stay in hope that one day their problems will be solved by the government and they will
live a happy life. The problem is no one knows where the money has gone and what has the
politicians of the country have done with that money(News 2017). This is a prime concern
because the kids have to cross the river to go to school. The local market is not for the islanders
but for the foreign tourists only. The local people have been deprived from all the sides
(Pocruises.com 2017).
The P&O Cruises did not at all act ethically in this case because the money collected
from the tourists should have been spent for the welfare of the people. Nonetheless, they have
handed the money to the politicians and the money could not be traced since then. These points

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can be justified by the fact that they have been in such position that they could develop those
places like Port Vila and Wala if they wished (Buys et al. 2014). The local politicians could have
also been much important in case of distributing the money equally among the villagers and
islanders. They have started their own attempts for their earning. They have been exporting some
of the crops they harvest in their fields through ferry services. These acts could well help them to
become self-dependent if the government does not come up for their help. The cruises company
can also do some good for the people of Vanuatu as they had seen dreams for the development of
the areas (Mendes and Guerreiro 2017).
Rectification of the issues
The issues that have been identified in this course have to be sorted out to solve the
problems of the local islanders. The issues are mostly ethical and governing issues are there as
well. The responsibility of sorting out of these issues must be taken by the government of
Vanuatu and Australia jointly (Kruger 2012). This is only because the P&O Cruises operate
under the instructions of the Australian government. There are several reasons on why the
government should interfere in the matters of the Vanuatu people.
The islanders have been in great distress all through and it is the primary duty of the local
government to provide them with the basic necessities. The ethical issues should be mitigated by
the local politicians because it is not possible for the government to interfere in everything. The
reasons are very much justified (Jovicic 2014). They should be looking to provide the people
with the food, water, public toilet, hospitals and primary schools. They should not play with the
money that they earn from the P&O cruises. The government and the local people should work
in collaboration to the make the dreams successful.

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Resolving of the identified issues by the government
It is very clear that the government could have identified some burning issues within the
Vanuatu tourism (News 2017). The responsibility is equally for the Australian government and
the Vanuatu government. The two governments could have consulted between themselves as to
how utilize the money and the facilities that come with the arrival of the cruise ships. The
Foreign department and the tourism department of the Australian government and Vanuatu
government should be looking at those issues so that they could find some way out to give
solidarity to those issues and be just to the demands of the islanders (Tourism.australia.com
2017). They should be consulting the other government agencies so that they could have some
ideas about the solution of this issue. The islanders of the Vanuatu area should be helped in great
ways so that they could live a better life and should lead a healthy life with many important
facilities that should help them to stay well (News 2017).
Recommendations
Some ways have to be recommended in this aspect since it is important to overcome
these isssues in no time. The poor islanders are living a life of seclusion from the developed
world and they do not have the facilities that they should have got. They are trying on their own
to export their crops to the improved areas (Sardos et al. 2016).
Recommendation no 1
The first responsibility of procuring the condition of the islanders of Wala and Vanuatu is
upon the government of Vanuatu and Australia. They should be working together in this matter.
They should look to provide the necessary facilities to the people there and build water system,
public toilet, hospitals and primary schools there. They should be working on this matter since

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they are the governing authority and it is their ethical responsibility to provide the best facilities
to the people who are under them.
Recommendation no 2
It is also the duty of the P&O Cruises to look upon the matter with graveness. The cruise
ships that come to the place there collect a huge amount of money from the foreigner tourists.
The tourists build the necessary facilities for themselves there but they should also look to
provide the basic things to the island people as well. The amount of money that is collected
should be used for the welfare of the poor islanders. This money should be used for building the
things that they have lacked (Dobel 2012).
Recommendation no 3
It is also the responsibility of the politicians as well. One basic issue that had been
identified is the corruption among the political leaders and the squandering of money by them.
They should not be allowed to get into this matter and the entire money should be used for the
betterment of the area (Robinson 2012). The financial reports should be published because the
common people have every right to know what the government is doing with the money.
Conclusion
This paper can be concluded by saying that the people of Vanuatu have been suffering
from various problems for decades now and the government has not been able to produce any
remedy for that. One important remedy could have been that of the money that was collected
from the cruise ships and the government and politicians had wasted that money for their own
advantage and pleasures. The situations turned out so that the islanders were deprived of their
basic rights. This could be fatal to their future. Some recommendations have been done as how

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this can be overcome. If the steps are followed, hopefully there will be an improvement in the
situation.

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References
Buys, J., Spandler, C., Holm, R.J. and Richards, S.W., 2014. Remnants of ancient Australia in
Vanuatu: Implications for crustal evolution in island arcs and tectonic development of the
southwest Pacific. Geology, 42(11), pp.939-942.
Cohen, E. and Cohen, S.A., 2012. Current sociological theories and issues in tourism. Annals of
Tourism Research, 39(4), pp.2177-2202.
Dobel, J.P., 2012. Public management as ethics.
Jovicic, D.Z., 2014. Key issues in the implementation of sustainable tourism. Current Issues in
Tourism, 17(4), pp.297-302.
Kruger, P.S.S., 2012. Perceptions of tourism impacts and satisfaction with particular life
domains. In Handbook of tourism and quality-of-life research (pp. 279-292). Springer
Netherlands.
Mendes, J. and Guerreiro, M., 2017. Conceptualizing the cruise ship tourist experience. Cruise
Ship Tourism, p.205.
News. (2017). Vanuatu's Broken Dreams. [online] Available at:
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/vanuatus-broken-dreams [Accessed 7 Oct. 2017].
Pocruises.com. (2017). P&O Cruises: 2017, 2018 & 2019 Cruise Holidays. [online] Available
at: http://www.pocruises.com/ [Accessed 7 Oct. 2017].
Robinson, M., 2012. Corruption and development. Routledge.

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Sardos, J., Muller, S., Duval, M.F., Noyer, J.L. and Lebot, V., 2016. Root crops diversity and
agricultural resilience: a case study of traditional agrosystems in Vanuatu (Oceania). Agriculture
and human values, 33(3), pp.721-736.
Scheyvens, R. and Russell, M., 2013. Sharing the riches of tourism in Vanuatu. Massey
University.
Tourism.australia.com. (2017). Tourism Australia Corporate Website - Tourism Australia.
[online] Available at: http://www.tourism.australia.com/en [Accessed 7 Oct. 2017].