An Emerging Vision for Tourism in Marau Sound
BY OLIGAO NINIU
ELIJAH Maumamura has a passion- to unite his people in Marau Sound; an area at the eastern tip of Guadalcanal- which many said it has the potential for tourism development.
“There are homestays and rest houses in our village and other neighboring villages which are at most times don’t receive guests,” said Maumamura, Managing Director of the Conflict Bay Lodge.
He added that the marketing of those homestays and guesthouses is a huge hurdle in their tourism aspirations in Rural Marau Sound.
While their targeted tourist markets are around holidays, to fill their rooms is what they need. Elijah eyed workshops and meetings as the adequate markets for his communities, besides the holiday market.
But getting the members of his community and supporting each other is what he believes is the only way out they can succeed in giving a meaningful tourism development to touch more lives and their livelihoods.
As one of the leaders of the Marau tourism development committee, Elijah has put an effort to bid for the national education authorities conference; even though his community is situated in the rural area. He is grateful for the trust and confidence of the host authority- Guadalcanal Education Authority.
Marau community successfully hosted all the education authorities- the hosts showed their guests the true spirit of east Guadalcanal (from Makaruka to Longgu) through their cultures and natural hospitality.
“It may need time and effort to put us on the tourism map. But changes do slowly happening,” said Elijah.
Local community leaders like him and young people are putting efforts to rewrite a kind of future they love for their communities. Among them, students from Makaruka to Longgu schools have put a tireless effort to take their steps in the show, which I believe will never erased easily from the minds of the many who saw it on Monday last week at Potau school, Marau sound.
The performers put their hearts and souls into every appearance. Things have changed.
“I learned a lot out of it throughout the process. The show enabled people – performers or not- to become more in tune and are more confident in their abilities spiritually and how they interact with others. No comparisons were being made, as everyone in the crowd was a reflection of one another,” added Maumamura.
The memory I left Marau sound with is what we owe to the performers of that opening of the national education authorities conference and their version of self-expression that rarely tapped. The students, their self-discovery of their creativity and ideas in the performance were what left audiences breathless.
Elijah concluded his talk by saying that if you want to help his rural community, do visit them and spend a few nights in one of the homestays and guesthouses. He wanted to see his communities touched by tourism in a more positive way.
