Talk about ‘hidden gems’: One of the least-visited countries wants you to check it out

As my boat slowly approached the 7-acre islet of Bokanbotin – a 15-minute ride from Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands – it looked as if I was sailing into a desktop wallpaper. 

A small white sandy beach wraps around an Edenic jungle. Under the sun, the turquoise water around the tiny island was as clear as glass – you could easily see the baby reef sharks swim below. No one else was on the private island, a secluded oasis. 

The Pacific has no shortage of unspoiled islands like Bokanbotin to enjoy. Think Fiji or Tahiti, which are renowned as top tourist destinations for being akin to paradise. That’s not the case for fellow island nation the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). As one of the least-visited countries in the world, the RMI gets only about 6,000 visitors a year. In comparison, just in June, Fiji received more than 90,000 travelers. 

Within the last couple of years, the Marshall Islands started to explore tourism as an economic driver and as a way to promote environmental and cultural preservation. In 2018, the government established the Office of Commerce, Investment and Tourism to lead the charge with a heavy focus on sustainable tourism. 

A hidden gem in the Pacific Ocean, the country offers stunning natural beauty, warm hospitality and a rich culture to experience. RMI offers quintessential island living, with a well-known fishing culture plus pristine diving and surfing – if you know where to go. 

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“I think that's all we can offer the world, our culture and trying to maintain that culture, our customs, our language, that's very important,” said Carlos Domnick, CEO of the Office of Commerce, Investment and Tourism. 

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Why hasn’t the Marshall Islands explored tourism before? 

Most visitors to the RMI are there for business or humanitarian reasons – only about 16% are there for leisure, according to the Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative. 

Unlike Hawaii, where tourism represents a quarter of the economy, in the RMI, tourism represents just 10% of the country’s total gross domestic product. With a population of about 41,000, only about 468 Marshallese were employed in the tourism industry in 2018, according to Domnick.

For the young country with a dark past and an uncertain future, tourism hasn’t been on residents’  – or investors’ – minds. “It’s a very new concept for us,” Domnick said.

The country initially wanted to explore tourism in the late 1990s, but it wasn’t able to get the idea off the ground, he said. As the RMI notices how tourism can transform countries, a renewed effort is taking place to bring more outreach to communities and outer atolls so “they understand the value of tourism and can also join in this effort to bring more visitors to our country.”

Is tourism to the Marshall Islands sustainable?

As climate change causes rising sea levels, scientists estimate the low-lying chain of atolls could become uninhabitable as soon as the 2030s. Over the past decade, coastal flooding has worsened, flooding roads and threatening buildings, according to Reginald White, director of the RMI’s National Weather Service Office.

“It’s hard to promote tourism … not only to try to bring tourists but to bring tourism investments as well. It’s hard to bring those in when you’re telling the world you’re sinking,” Domnick said. “So we’ve got a tough job, and we’re just trying to strike that balance moving forward.” 

The past also haunts potential tourism. In the 1940s, the U.S. military used the Bikini and Enewetak atolls as nuclear testing sites, which led to displacement of residents and culture loss and rendered the islands uninhabitable. Residents around the RMI experienced a slew of health problems, including birth defects and cancer, and no one has been able to return to those atolls.  

What’s it like traveling to the Marshall Islands? 

It’s difficult and expensive for travelers to even get to the RMI, which is made up of 1,225 islands spanning more than 822,799 square miles. 

Currently, there’s only one RMI-bound flight in the U.S.: the United Airlines “island hopper,” which departs from Honolulu and stops in Majuro and then Guam. The flight is scheduled only once a day, four days out of the week. A one-way ticket will typically cost over $1,000.

To improve accessibility, the RMI is trying to increase the number of flights to Majuro. Domnick is on the country’s aviation’s task force and has been in talks with airlines like Hawaiian Airlines and Fiji Airways to add more routes.

Once people get to Majuro, accommodations are in short supply – there are only three hotels. It’s a balancing act of marketing tourism and then having enough capacity to hold the tourists, Domnick said.  

If you want to dive the RMI’s unspoiled coral reefs or surf its waves, you’ll need to find a way to get from Majuro to the outer atolls. Since the islands are so spread out, it can take days via boat or a short flight on the notoriously unreliable domestic airline Air Marshall Islands.

A 20-hour sail or 40-minute flight (that’ll cost you about $320 round trip) from Majuro is Beran Island’s Daly’s Beran Island Surf Lodge, an all-inclusive sustainable luxury surf resort created by Australian boat captain and surfer Martin Daly. Experiencing those pristine waves won’t come cheap. The resort requires you and up to 15 of your closest friends to book the entire place for at least a week for a price tag of $50,000. 

Unlike Beran Island, many of the outer atolls are too undeveloped to support tourism. Energy grids are considered unreliable and food resources are lacking. Just last month, the entire country finally got access to clean water with the help of outdoor company Sawyer’s water filters and the women-led nonprofit Kora in Okrane. 

What does sustainable tourism look like in the RMI? 

The island of Bokanbotin was passed down through the Tibon family. Sherwood Tibon and his wife, Emma Kabua-Tibon, who own a marine supply shop in Majuro, began to outfit their private land for personal use.

In June 2022, they opened Bokanbotin up to the public as an “island getaway” for picnics and camping. Travelers can reserve the solar-powered island on Airbnb for $250 a night for four guests as of July 31. For a more glamping experience, guests can stay in a small loft or, soon, an almost finished geodesic dome with an oceanfront patio. 

Campers are told to bring their own food, but the Tibons provide tents, utensils, pots, rice cookers and an outdoor screen for movies. There’s Wi-Fi, too. The family will take all trash back to Majuro for disposal. 

So far, most of the visitors to Bokanbotin are Marshall Islands expats from Australia or the U.S. The family hopes to market to more international travelers. “It’s different from other sites in Majuro,” Tibon said. “We think it’s unique, and we try to give it the wow factor so you say, ‘This is where I want to spend my day.’” 

As for the threat of climate change, Tibon said he’s not too worried about his island because the trees that line the shoreline “act as our seawalls,” blocking damage from rising tides. 

Eco-tourism boutique startups like Bokanbotin are exactly what the Office of Commerce, Investment and Tourism wants to support. 

Because not every family has the capital to start a business, the office is “seeing how we can provide an enabling environment for locals to be able to invest in tourism,” Domnick said. In 2021, the agency launched a program called Ao Kapijuknen (My Homeland) in partnership with the International Organization for Migration to train and fund women interested in starting up their own tourism business. 

Another tourism opportunity is coming next year. For the first time, the Marshall Islands will host the 10th Micronesian Games, showcasing sports and cultural practices like coconut tree husking to beach volleyball. In Majuro, a track field is being built for the 2023 games, but construction has been delayed, pushing the event to 2024. 

Domnick said the country is encouraging Majuro-based families to open up an empty room or guest house on Airbnb for the event. 

I spent the afternoon at Bokanrotin eating lunch out on the pier before masking up and snorkeling around the protected marine area, catching glimpses of puffer fish and giant clams. Leaving the island at sunset, it’s easy to understand why the Tibon family would want to share their island home with others. 

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com.