Mystery Island

[Chiliburn]

https://www.dailypost.vu/news/vt2-billion-mystery-island-tourism-upgrade/article_dcd695b2-4d09-5006-bea4-ed3f482daa7c.html

[MicCanberra]

Yep, I wish them all luck.

[Chiliburn]

9 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Yep, I wish them all luck.

Good on ya carnival,so much for Royal’s Lelepa 

[cruiselover53]

Considering there is an airstrip running the length of the island,there's not much room left for all that infrastructure

[Gwendy]

Would be nice to see it remain as is.  Isle of Pines and Lifou have been changed and not for the benefit of either locals or tourists.

[LincolnLegend]

What a shame, sounds like a total control grab to me. One of the last sentences is a worry, last time I went to Mystery Island, I booked on the island so that all the tour money went to the locals, rather than the cruise company. I bet the tours triple in cost!

[Chiliburn]

What’s 2 billion Vanuatu work out in $AU ?  Is that about $25 mil

It a lot of investment and will help the locals support their community.

Edited December 22, 2023 by Chiliburn

[bazshirl2]

Agree that the charm of Mystery Island is the limited commercialisation and its natural beauty.

Hopefully development plans do not proceed.

[arxcards]

I struggle to see any link to Lelepa, unless they are planning on putting laughing clowns in the cabanas.

[Chiliburn]

46 minutes ago, arxcards said:

I struggle to see any link to Lelepa, unless they are planning on putting laughing clowns in the cabanas.

Everyone has been waiting for this extravagancer that Royal has been hyping.

Carbon neutral,lots of jobs for the locals but nothing. About the only thing they have done is give Lelepa school some chairs and strangely a charity claims they gave them not R.C.

 

My point is, Carnival seems a lot more genuine in developing tourism in Vanuatu.

 

[arxcards]

59 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Everyone has been waiting for this extravagancer that Royal has been hyping.

Carbon neutral,lots of jobs for the locals but nothing. About the only thing they have done is give Lelepa school some chairs and strangely a charity claims they gave them not R.C.

 

My point is, Carnival seems a lot more genuine in developing tourism in Vanuatu.

 

Yep, all good. I got your point. Some laughing clowns would be great though, until someone nicks the ping pong balls.

 

Like Royal, Carnival's interests are co-operative at best. Carnival Australia has been fostering ties in the Pacific for decades, and are usually the first ship in town to assist with supplies after a cyclone. It isn't all charity though, with lots of efforts toward improving or repairing tender wharves. With no IOP or Mare on the cards, Mystery Island needs to be more attractive for repetitive visits.

 

Also like Royal, these are currently just plans.

[Auscruisefam]

On 12/23/2023 at 1:29 PM, Chiliburn said:

Everyone has been waiting for this extravagancer that Royal has been hyping.

Carbon neutral,lots of jobs for the locals but nothing. About the only thing they have done is give Lelepa school some chairs and strangely a charity claims they gave them not R.C.

 

My point is, Carnival seems a lot more genuine in developing tourism in Vanuatu.

 

I was recently on Brilliance of the Seas and had a chat to a few crew/staff about the itineraries for the next couple of years. Interesting conversations. Some didn’t believe Lelepa will happen, apparently some dispute about the island. They all said that the cruise lines are struggling to secure ports and that the Australian Government is not investing in cruising, they just aren’t interested. Even when Royal is throwing money at building bigger ports in Aust or South Pacific. They said it’s really hard in this part of the world to develop the market. Royal aren’t focusing here anymore and they also said they are struggling to fill cabins in Australia.