There have been testimonies from more than one tourist on what they prefer to do when in Samoa and where they have found satisfaction.

The beach fale have taken this round hands down and it is mainly because of the service they provide. An Australian tourist tells of her experience of being treated with respect and utmost friendliness when she was at the beach fale compared to the way she was treated at a resort.

Similarly last year, the Samoa Observer ran a story of a seasoned tourist who had been visiting our shores since 1978 and how she and her husband were treated at a resort which made her want to talk to us.

Samoa’s grip on the tourism market share in the Pacific is still small when compared to the bigger operators like Fiji, Guam and French Polynesia.

On average Samoa gets 140,000 visitor arrivals per year, this is pre-COVID figures from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Fiji surpassed one million, Cook Islands which has only a population of 15,000 compared to 200,000 plus of Samoa still manages the same number of visitors as Samoa.

Vanuatu manages 120,000 annually sharing similar arrivals as Palau, while Guam managed to cross the million mark as well.

Samoa has everything that the bigger tourism players have but perhaps there is a need to look at a very important aspect of tourism which may be causing visitors not to return and that is service. The one that comes with a friendly smile instead of a roll of the eye.

According to the growth of the tourism industry, this industry has significant economic power, including employment, income, and tax. In addition to this, the hospitality industry has become a key factor in a country. Therefore, service also has become one of the essential parts of this field.

Tourists want to get excellent service when they buy products or services, as much as they paid. Also, they look forward to being treated with the best services. For this reason, many companies train employees to focus on treating customers well and research various customer service programs to keep high customer retention.

Nowadays, many customers write reviews and feedback on websites or social media, so many people can see these review sites. Bad feedback results in a decrease in your customers because they prefer to choose hotels with the best customer reviews. As technologies develop, to manage online sites, hotels and other industries should focus more on customer service to get better reviews.

Today, our lives are improved compared to the past, thanks to better workplaces, wages, and quality of life. Consequently, many people are wealthier, and people’s quality of life in their lives and workplaces has become relaxed. Furthermore, they found a lot of free time and could afford to travel or buy something for themselves.

That is why people’s expectations have also increased in modern times because they expect great services in exchange for the money they spend. Tourists who stay in a hotel require excellent services. For instance, being offered a comprehensive and comfortable suite and being served high-quality meals and beverages are fundamental customer requirements. Hotel companies should know and prepare what customers need.

Now the beach fales do not provide the fancy meal services or exotic dishes or entertainment and water sports as compared to the hotels, what they do provide is excellent service. There are so many tourists who would spend weeks at the beach fale because the experience is a pleasing one. After all that is what a holiday is about.

As hard as the Samoa Tourism Authority tries to market Samoa through expensive marketing strategies, if the service factor is missing, there are many people who would opt to go to other island destinations. When you’re on vacation, the last thing you want to do is encounter rude people. Friendly locals offering a warm welcome, on the other hand, can turn an average escapade into an unforgettable one.

In a list of countries which are referred to as the friendliest countries in the world, there are only two Pacific nations who have made this list and Samoa is not one of them. Perhaps something for the National University of Samoa to look at and develop a curriculum which may help improve the service part of the tourism culture. It is not that every tourist has had a bad reaction but the service side of things will help Samoa’s bid to revitalise its tourism sector.

As a nation which relies heavily on imports, growing an industry like tourism is very important because once tourism grows, we will look at growing employment not only direct employment in the tourism sector but in associated industries which includes agriculture. We will not have hotels closing down and becoming just a speck of what they were in their heydays.

 A little smile and friendliness goes a long way.