Samoa Tourism Authority chief executive officer Toleafoa Pativaine Petaia-Tevita (2022–2025) was in Kota Kinabalu to attend the 6th World Tourism Conference 2022 held from Nov 28 to 30 at the Sabah International Convention Centre.
She also attended a dinner hosted by Funholiday Tours and Travel managing director Connie Chong at a seafood restaurant.
“Kota Kinabalu is very clean and the people are very friendly,” said Toleafoa, who transited here from Kuala Lumpur.
In a short time, she got to know Connie, which she did not expect. “You don’t find that anywhere else,” she said.
“Honestly, Malaysia is not one of our secondary markets. We have yet to tap further into the Asian market.
“Right now, the only countries in the Asian market we are working with are China and the Republic of Korea.
“China is important because of relationships built by our former and current leaders with the Chinese government,” she said, adding that Chinese migration to Samoa in the past also led to intermarriages.
“With the Republic of Korea, we tapped into that market because of the direct flight from Nadi, Fiji to Korea. That serves as a gateway for travel between China and Samoa,” she said.
She said Samoa is also temporarily focusing on Japan via Nadi to Narita as it has an embassy in Japan.
On Malaysia, she said it is a relatively new market and Samoa is still getting to know industry players and exploring potential attractions.
“Now we can go back and spread the word. We have also visited some places,” she said.
She noted that Sabah and Samoa share a similar climate.
“We must not rule out the power of word of mouth. We can go back and tell people about Sabah,” she said, adding that online promotion can capitalise on the reach of the internet.
She said participation in trade familiarisation programmes would allow influential travel industry figures to visit Samoa and exchange ideas and information.
For Samoans travelling to Sabah, she said they can fly from New Zealand to Singapore, then to Kuala Lumpur, before taking a connecting flight to Kota Kinabalu.
She also commended the convention centre, describing it as the largest she has visited so far, with an impressive ceiling height.
