231 © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Campbell, J. Connell (eds.), COVID in the Islands: A
comparative perspective on the Caribbean and the Pacifc,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5285-1_13
CHAPTER 13
An Industry in Crisis: How Vanuatu’s
Tourism Sector Is Seeking Economic
Recovery
Anna Naupa, Sarah Mecartney, Liz Pechan,
and Nick Howlett
INTRODUCTION
This chapter recounts and examines the events triggered by the COVID-19
pandemic that produced a steep decline in Vanuatu’s tourism industry, the
key economic sector during the preceding three decades. This necessitated
A. Naupa (*)
Australia-Pacifc Technical College, Port Vila, Vanuatu
S. Mecartney
Pacifc Community (SPC), Nouméa, New Caledonia
e-mail: sarahm@spc.int
L. Pechan
The Havannah, Port Vila, Vanuatu
e-mail: liz@thehavannah.com
N. Howlett
Vanuatu Tourism Of fce, Port Vila, Vanuatu