10 July 2026, Port Vila - Vanuatu is accelerating efforts to reduce plastic pollution by embedding single-use plastic (SUP) phase-out measures into the future direction of its tourism industry.
The Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Workshop, held this week in Luganville and Port Vila, brought together government agencies, provincial councils, communities, tourism businesses and industry associations to identify practical solutions to support a more sustainable and resilient tourism sector.
Held as part of consultations on the 2030 Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Strategy Refresh and the revised Vanuatu Tourism Operator Sustainable Standards (VTOSS), the workshop highlighted the importance of regional collaboration and strategic alignment between national and regional frameworks and actions to address plastic pollution in the Pacific region.
The workshop was convened by the Vanuatu Department of Tourism (DOT) in partnership with the Department of Environmental Protection and Conservation (DEPC), the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) through the Australian Government-funded Pacific Ocean Litter Project (POLP), and the Sustainable Tourism Enhancement Project (STEP) funded by the European Union's SWITCH-Asia Programme.
Vanuatu has long been recognised as a regional leader in tackling plastic pollution. In 2018, it became one of the first countries in the world, and the first in the Pacific, to legally ban single-use plastic bags, straws, and polystyrene takeaway containers.
DEPC’s Principal Officer, Mr Rontexstar Mogeror said the workshops provided an important opportunity to strengthen collaboration between the tourism and environment sectors."Tourism is demonstrating it is part of the solution,” Mr Mogeror said.
“The action being taken to enhance sustainability through the revised national tourism strategy and standards is a critical enabler in the pathway towards formally integrating a framework for phasing out problematic single-use plastics from our tourism value chain.”
Under the Pacific Ocean Litter Project, SPREP and SPTO have developed the Standards and Certification Programme to Phase Out Single-Use Plastics in the Pacific Tourism Industry (SCP) to help tourism operators progressively eliminate unnecessary and problematic single-use plastics.
The SCP provides practical guidance for tourism businesses to identify and phase out SUPs through improved procurement practices, sustainable substitutes and alternatives, and operational changes, ensuring responsiveness and supporting compliance with national legislation and regional and international commitments to address plastic pollution.
Vanuatu’s Director of Tourism, Mr Paul Pio, welcomed the programme as an important regional initiative.
He said: "The Standards and Certification Programme provides a strategic regional framework for the tourism sector to eliminate plastics. Tourism is the cornerstone of the national economy and the programme presents a practical solution to consider as part of initiatives to enhance sustainability and compliance with national, regional and international obligations.”
Project Manager for POLP, Mr Andrea Volentras said, “The tourism industry is a strategic sector to accelerate the transition away from single-use plastics because its influence extends across accommodation, food and beverage services, transport, attractions, retail and local supply chains.
“By supporting the tourism sector to phase out unnecessary single-use plastics, we create a ripple effect that drives more sustainable procurement, influences consumer behaviour, reduces plastic pollution across multiple industries.”
The workshops also introduced participants to the SCP implementation toolkit and resources, highlighting how the programme can support businesses in meeting the revised VTOSS requirements.
The implementation workshops are being delivered nationally by SPREP and SPTO in partnership with national focal points through the Pacific Ocean Litter Project.
Follow-on activities will support participating countries establish single-use plastic usage baselines, monitor progress, and measure the tourism sector's contribution to reducing plastic pollution across the Pacific.
POLP supports Pacific Island countries to transition away from problematic single-use plastics through policy and legislative reform, behaviour change, private-sector engagement and practical solutions that reduce plastic pollution and protect the region's fragile environment, communities and economies.