A total of $7 million has been appropriated by the Samoa Tourism Authority (S.T.A.) for the marketing and promotion of Samoa as an international destination. 

The allocation is included in the S.T.A’s $12 million budget for the 2020-2021 Financial Year and passed by parliament in July. 

Compared to the previous Financial Year, the Government’s funding for the tourism promotion from  $7.9 million in the previous year, or by more than half-a-million tala. 

The promotion and marketing division from the Authority has accounted for more than half of its budget throughout the years.  

Since the measles epidemic and the coronavirus pandemic, the country's tourism exports have ground to a halt with border closure forcing the industry to rely on the domestic market.  

The most targeted country for marketing to tourists on the S.T.A.’s list is Australia. A total of $2.427 million has been earmarked in the 2020 budget for the S.T.A.’s Australia office and marketing service. 

In the previous financial year, the same market received an allocation of $2.487 million, or a decrease of $60,000 from the current Financial Year. 

New Zealand has an allocation of $2.058 million for this year compared to $2.409 million last year. 

Other countries that are being targeted for their tourists are North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, American Samoa and the Asian market. 

For this year the Authority has dedicated more funding for the Asian market of $436,000 compared to $378,000 last year.  

The North American market, meanwhile, has had its marketing funding slashed for this year dropping from $612,000 the previous year to the current $430,000.

For the local market, a total of $1.1 million has been set aside for the Authority’s Samoa office and marketing services for this calendar year.