Neu: 2001-10-09 Contents of this issue:
1. Office Review 2. Internet Quandry ======================================================================== October 9th, 2001 1. Office Review: The performance of the Niue Tourism Office is to come under scrutiny. The Wellington based NZODA plans to carry out a cost benefit analysis of the office operations and examine the effectiveness of promotional strategies sinc 1998. A consultant is being hired to also report on the returns on expenditure from tourism promotion compared to a selection of other Pacific countries. Since 1998 NZODA has provided almost $NZ9000,000 in funding for the tourism office. The Niue Government has contributed almost $400,000. Part of the review includes recommendations for future NZODA support for tourism development on Niue. This year the Niue Government has budgetted to contribute $187,000 to the tourism office. 2. Internet Quandry: A study conducted in New Caledonia shows that the number of Internet subscriptions is comparatively low because the French territory's population thinks it us "not useful" and "too expensive." According to the study, which was conducted by research firm Louis-Harris, one third of the population in the Greater Noum�a do have a computer, but only 12 per cent are connected to the Internet. Some 25 per cent of the surveyed sample said they did not have a computer because it is "too expensive", another 25 per cent said it is "not useful". Another 20 per cent said they intended to buy one shortly. In the population structure, Metropolitan French nationals were the best equipped: 53 per cent of this category have the Internet at home. Another hindering factor cited by the survey was the cost of telecommunications, which is perceived as too high by 48 per cent of the sampled persons. But this did not seem to be a cause for worry among New Caledonians: only four per cent of the surveyed individuals would like steps to be taken to improve Internet access, three per cent ask for better rates. Connection to the internet is free on Niue - the only country in the world with such a service. E-mail registration and use is also free - users only have to pay the standard local telephone call from their PC to the Internet Users Society servers. (Oceania Flash/SPC) __END__
