ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the vagaries of human mobility and travel within the Pacific Island states. Global and intra-regional travel is characterized by three main markets. The first of these is beach-based, sun-sea-sand tourists who often spend their holidays at seaside resorts. The second market is diasporic islanders who live abroad, either in other Pacific states or beyond. Travel to the region and within the region among diasporic Pacific Islanders is big business and supports a travel infrastructure that might not otherwise be viable. The third market concerns arrivals from nations which are politically and socio-economically connected to Pacific Island states, such as the current free association status of several small states with former patron states within or outside the Pacific. The chapter inspects a number of mobility challenges that these states can experience: fragmented geography, physical isolation, small physical and demographic sizes, small economies of scale, political fragmentation, transportation irregularities and the effects of climate change. The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced transportation and access enormously in the region in all regards. It will likely take some time for the small, underdeveloped countries of the region to recover from the crisis that essentially ended many of their tourist industries.
