ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the key touring tropes that have come to define the Melanesian world of Paradise tourism. Ecotourism and cultural tourism provide a further source of niche ‘onshore’ activities. Focused around natural environments deemed particularly exotic or spectacular, ecotourism is intended to further species or ecological conservation and environmental sustainability efforts. Despite such departures from mainstream tourism, shimmering blue water, palm-fringed beaches and poolside resort opulence continue to provide the primary mise-en-scene in the ‘destination marketing’ and national branding initiatives of the majority of Melanesian contexts. The official national tourism website describes Ambrym in strikingly similar terms to the one provided for the Fanla tour: Volcanic ash and sorcery have earned Ambrym the title of the ‘black’ island. Tourism in local and particularly rural contexts becomes a setting for ‘the clash of competing discourses over issues such as socioeconomic stratification, ethnicity and national identity, and democratic participation’.
