From Papay to Polynesia: a study of tourism in small islands

Small developing countries, including small islands such as those located in Polynesia and Melanesia and Micronesia, can have few economic resources with which to sustain their communities, often resulting in a reliance on tourism as their main income generating activity. In addition, such islands may have few resources with which to build tourism infrastructure and educate their populations in the industry, leading to a tendency for younger members if the population to leave their islands in order to seek life and career opportunities elsewhere, thereby exacerbating the problems of lack of growth and unsustainability.
There are, however, lessons which may be learned from those small islands which have managed to put in place a strategy which has resulted in a developing, if not yet fully robust, tourism industry, of which Vanuatu may be viewed as one.