By Ethan Gelber

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John and Silvana Nicholls on a moonscape plain near Mt Yasur volcano, Tanna Island, Vanuatu

On a typical morning, John and Silvana Nicholls share a pawpaw topped with passion fruit from their garden. The handmade, wood-fired bread from an indigenous baker is still warm, as is the pot of organically grown coffee from a nearby island. Any scraps will be disposed of on a compost heap that will fertilise their banana trees. “It’s tough, but someone’s got to do it!” said John.

The Nicholls own and operate Vanuatu Hotels, the most comprehensive online accommodation booking facility – also the whl.travel local connection – in this island nation in the South Pacific. Running a business unaffiliated with any hotel, resort or tourism company, the Nicholls got where they are today by putting in the long, hard hours required to build expertise and a reputation for integrity and reliability. But they also found their way into a golden opportunity and have capitalized on it fully.

Fortunately for the people and nature of Vanuatu, the Nicholls’ also promote culturally and ecologically sensitive travel out of profound respect for their adopted land and its indigenous inhabitants.

The whl.travel Connection

“When we were running the [The White Grass Ocean] resort in Tanna, I read somewhere on the Internet a report on The World Bank introducing a book-on-line portal,” John recalled. “I was so impressed by the idea. I mean the whl.travel model is as brilliant as it is simple. Then, one day the most amazing thing happened. They were presenting their product to the industry in Vanuatu! I could not contain my joy. However, the day they gave their presentation, I fell sick with the worst flu I have had in my entire life; bed-ridden, I missed the meet. How ironic, considering I was the only one in the country that knew of and was already sold on the project! Anyway, I contacted a director of the organisation and found they were still open to tenders and they were prepared to bend over backwards to assist in setting up a partner in Vanuatu. Now I could realise my dream of aggregating Vanuatu tourism products and services online under one banner. Vanuatu Hotels was that vehicle.”

In the last 10 years, John Nicholls has taken more than 10,000 pictures, most of them documenting life and nature in Vanuatu and quite a few visible at www.vanuatu-hotels.vu/photo andpicasaweb.google.com/vanuatutravel

But dreams take time. John’s experience of launching six resorts from the ground up had taught him it takes at least three years to establish a solid commercial presence. They nevertheless dove fully into the new-business cycle and, sure enough, now entering their fifth year, they have not only doubled their inventory every second year to include 90% of Vanuatu’s rooms (including resorts, motels, guesthouses and NiVanuatu indigenous bungalows) but increased their profitability exponentially since year three through flight reservation, sale of travel insurance, car rentals and even wedding arrangements on top of a live volcano with a croquembouche wedding cake delivered to the rim.

Keeping It Local

But Vanuatu Hotels is more than just a standard business; it’s an ethical one. On a Web page about the Nicholls, travellers are told of their “deep attachment and respect for the people of Vanuatu and an uncompromising commitment to the protection of the country’s natural heritage.” The Nicholls have accordingly shown great initiative in finding ways to increase the benefit of their work with the greater community.

John Nicholls with the chief of Vil Vil village, Malekula Island, Vanuatu

“And the beauty of it is that all our revenue is generated in the country for the country, reducing leakage, which is a real problem for Vanuatu,” enthused John. (Estimates show that between 50% and 70% of the tourism dollars generated by Vanuatu never make it to the country.) “Another benefit is that we are distributing the Vanuatu experience to a much wider audience than ever before, consequently that means more foreign exchange acquired from markets that may have never heard of Vanuatu, money that would have been spent in countries with healthy economies. Now some of it is being spent here.”

Caring for the Destination

The general practice of sustainable tourism, although relatively new as a labelled hot-button concept, has been around Vanuatu for a long time. Some people have always been sensitive to the needs of the land and its communities without market forces having to convince them. “They saw the publicity of it as blatant commercialisation of their inner beliefs,” said John. This was the challenge the Nicholls faced in cataloguing their suppliers’ sustainable practices.

John Nicholls with his close friend Rex Iapen (and piglet) promoting the outer islands at a trade show in Port Vila, Vanuatu

But they persisted and helped lead the charge, setting themselves up as an example in the both their personal and professional lives. “[At home] we happily follow sustainable practices in everything we do,” John emphasised. “As whl.travel partners we commit ourselves to this; it is the responsibility we willingly and passionately take on board. It’s easy, makes sense and saves us money. We also had to make sure that every part of our business could be scrutinised thoroughly on the basis of eco-sustainability. We had to ensure that no one could ever insinuate we were being insincere.”

Few would make such a claim. Since 2001, they had been lobbying for coconut crab conservation. Later, for a year they produced a monthly 25-page newsletter addressing sustainability issues and John is active on committees and advisory boards looking for ways to influence government policy and the hospitality industry about it. In 2006 they even introduced and sponsored the Best Indigenous Bungalow Award, followed in 2007 by creation of the Best Green Operator Award, which they have continued to sponsor in the national Vanuatu Tourism Awards to this day.

Prizing Success

Tourism in the South Pacific has long been dominated by wholesalers, but the trade winds seem to be blowing in a different direction of late. “The tourism food chain has changed radically,” predicted John. “We certainly had a difficult start as the [whl.travel] concept was so different for our suppliers to absorb, and the Internet was still regarded locally as an information-gathering medium only. In the first two years we had to knock on doors, but now we are well established and everyone comes to us. It’s much easier that way, but the flip side is that we cannot keep up.”

Their efforts have not gone unnoticed, most of all by whl.travel, which recognised the Nicholls as Best Franchisee of the Year in 2007-2008 through a reward and recognition programme that encourages network partners to meet business objectives and service standards. (The award in 2008-2009 was given to the franchisee for Laos.)

John and Silvana Nicholls with some of their staff on Tanna Island, Vanuatu

“I’m elated!” reported John, after learning about the win. “It has been tough, we have worked very hard and must admit we are both extremely competitive. But this competition has greater rewards for all of us in the whl.travel organisation than a single franchisee winning a prize. It is an essential motivator for all of us to improve.”

Walking the Talk

John’s many years in tourism have taught him that there is no such thing as secure employment in the tourism industry. “You’re on top one day and you can be out of a job the next day.” However, he’s thrilled to have found something different in whl.travel, a discovery made in 184 other destinations in 80 other countries, with more epiphanies to come in nearly 100 more destinations (including 12 new countries) in the coming months. “It’s different with whl.travel. They provide the most amazing vehicle. The local partner only has to drive it. Friends ask me why I never wanted to own my own resort? My answer is: ‘Did Schumacher own the Ferrari he was driving? If he had would he be driving them at 180 kilometres an hour?’ whl.travel provides the Ferrari, never stops enhancing it and I am having a ball driving it.”

John also likens whl.travel to being on the Greenpeace ship saving whales. “I could not be more proud than to be part of an organisation such as whl.travel. You know you’re doing something valuable, yet at the same time building a successful business. It’s undeniably the best business decision I have ever made. I foresee whl.travel becoming the dominant ‘real travel’ online booking engine of the world within the next three years.”

Posted under General, Vanuatu, countries, responsible organisations, responsible travel, whl.travel newsletter