Sanma Province has achieved another milestone for the tourism industry through the training and business development support of the TVET Program, with the official launching of five local products. The local businesses include: Millennium Cave Tours, Nanda Blue Hole Tour, Towoc Restaurant and Bungalows, and the Little Paradise of Port Orly Restaurant. The Department of Tourism and the Australian Goverment funded TVET Program have been working with local tourism operators in Sanma province since January 2011 to improve the quality of their products to meet the required standards set by the Tourism sector.
The Sanma TVET Centre uses a model of accredited trainings, workshops and coaching with action plans for clients for follow-up after every two months to monitor improvement. As Tourism is one of the primary economic drivers of the Province, the TVET Centre has placed significant focus on providing skill development services to local small business operators in this sector.
The Millennium Cave Tour now has its own office in Luganville where tourists who wish to explore the cave can receive full safety and information briefings before embarking on the exotic tour. All tour guides employed by the Tour have now undertaken first aid and basic search and rescue training, coordinated by the TVET Program. The Manager for the Tour, Mr Samuel Antikar, during the official opening, outlined the improvements that have been implemented to make the Millennium Cave one of the best tourism attractions in Santo, if not the whole of Vanuatu.
Invited guests from Port Vila and Santo spent the day visiting the new products, which have now all been nationally accredited by the Department of Tourism. All guests expressed their delight at the quality of the new bungalows and restaurants, which will no doubt play a key role in attracting more tourists to the island.
New bungalow at Lonnoc Beach