Samoa Tourism's Trade Familiarisation Program recommences

The Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) is excited to announce the recommencement of its trade famil program for 2023, offering retail agents the opportunity to discover the island nation's abundance of activities and experiences first-hand. 

The program is part of Samoa Tourism's trade re-engagement efforts and aims to boost awareness amongst frontline retailers and position Samoa as a unique holiday destination.

Accompanied by Samoa Tourism’s local staff, the agents will receive a full guided tour of the two main islands which includes hotel/property inspections and attraction site visits. The program highlights the importance of selling from experience as well as enabling the participating agents to sell Samoa with confidence.

Current guests include agents from Australia’s Ignite Travel, Flight Centre, Omniche Holidays, Island Escapes and Entire Travel; some of the largest travel companies in the country. 

The Authority’s planned trade famils from New Zealand have been postponed due to disruptions caused by the January floods, followed by cyclone Gabrielle.

Although visitor numbers have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels, recently released tourism data reveal a steady flow of travellers since Samoa's borders reopened in August last year. It shows the number of visitors for the August - December 2022 period sits around 47,000 people — over half that of pre-pandemic visitors recorded in 2019.

"We’re excited to welcome international visitors back to Samoa and are confident we will continue to see those numbers rise quickly over the next 12 months. According to our most recent reporting, we are tracking well against our projections per our recovery plan," says the Samoa Tourism Authority.

New Zealand continues to be Samoa's largest international tourist market, accounting for 21,460 international arrivals in 2022 (46%), followed by Australian visitors at 12,234 (26%). 

Qantas and Fiji Airways currently operate flights to Samoa from Australia, while Virgin Australia is set to join in March.

Air New Zealand operates daily direct flights from New Zealand while Fiji Airways operates connecting flights via Nadi.

Samoa Tourism acknowledges and greatly appreciates the support of our local tourism operators.