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The present thesis is focused on the subject of foreign tourism investment in the South Pacific Region with special focus on the Island of Samoa. The findings imply that the power of investments in the tourism industry of the South Pacific has to be managed and controlled to benefit from its positive repercussions. After a basic overview over Samoa and its tourism status the thesis will show detailed statistical data about visitor arrivals and patterns, leading to the main part of the dissertation where tourism investment is put under analysis. Trends and needed procedures and institutional support in finding investors will be included into the analysis, as well as governmental policy actions undertaken to favor investment based cooperation in the long run. The sustainability factor of tourism expansion influenced by tourism investment has also been analyzed and the findings show steps that the destinations will have to follow to ensure a sustainable growth and development of the social, economic and ecological environment.

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Peter Linter, born in Bolzano (South Tyrol - Italy) in 1980. During his studies and internship (Samoa) at the Free University of Bolzano he identified the topic for his final diploma thesis. Tourism investment, the implications for local communities and sustainable developement are the main focus of his findings.

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