Fashionable Facelift Underway at the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa

Silence is golden - and so is the upgrade taking place at the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa between the 24th of October and the 18th of December 2011.

Sofitel's extensive guestroom refurbishment program will commence this October, and is expected to create maximum impact on completion yet minimum interruption during its progression, thanks to forward thinking from management and the resort's vast layout

General Manager Adam Laker says following a soft renovation of certain public areas at the resort over the past 12 months, focus has now shifted to guest rooms.

"We will update half of our room inventory from mid October," Mr Laker says. "During this time we will change the look and feel of our guest rooms, including ten suites."

Mr Laker explained that the integrity of the resort experience for current guests is a priority over the renovation period. "We don't want our current guests to be inconvenienced, so at no time will they ever see any work in progress, as we will isolate each block being worked on one at a time.

"Unlike a city hotel where there is noise floor to floor, our resort is only three floors high and expansive, so we have the luxury of being able to close off entire blocks with minimal disruption.  There will be no jack hammering, pulling down of walls or any other excessive noise."

Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa's new look will involve a luxury upgrade of all furniture, carpet floorings, paint, wallpaper and glass shower screens. As part of the facelift, Sofitel will also introduce a new Luxury Room category available from April 2012, positioned above the resort's Superior Room type yet below its suites.

These new Luxury Rooms will receive personal Bose iPod and iPhone docking stations and an updated version of Sofitel's famous Mybed, to ensure the most comfortable sleep in Fiji.

In collaboration with leading hotel interior design consultants, the Carmody Group, Adam Laker and the Sofitel team have designed a vibrant yet refined room concept seemingly inspired by the muted yellow and leather colours made famous by iconic French fashion house, Louis Vuitton.

The result is an exuberant blend of texture and colour, befitting its refined Sofitel label, and Fijian island address.

Stitched high leather bed heads, desk chairs and strong timber and polished Fijian shell writing desks provide a handsome structure reminiscent of LV's tell tale travel totes and luggage. These strong elements are complemented by the otherwise soft yet elegant furnishings of each guest room and suite, punctuated with crisp white quilts and cool colonial style shutters to provide light relief from the bright Fijian sun.

Fijian floral signatures are evident on contemporary cushions, intricate wood and shell ornaments and other artwork have been introduced to reinforce the resort's tropical location and appreciation of local culture and style. For more information about the refurbishment contact the resort's Director of Sales & Marketing Nicholas Mina at Nicholas.mina@sofitelfiji.com.fj

For reservations and general information about the Sofitel Fiji Resort & Spa and other hotels in the network, www.sofitel.com

Read More

Tourism Fiji launches dedicated ‘Fiji Me’ Australian website

Tourism Fiji has this week launched a dedicated Australian version of the global 'Fiji Me' website intended to make visiting the destination even easier than ever before.

Located at www.fijime.com.au, as would be expected the new website is literally awash with information truly reflecting the multi-faceted nature of the destination – from family fun and boutique cruising to soft adventure, culture, surfing, spas and wellness, weddings and honeymoons and not forgetting simple relaxation!!

And with everything geared to reflect Fiji's ability to deliver a total holiday experience - Irrespective of taste, requirement or budget!

Tourism Fiji Regional Director Australia, Paresh Pant said a major component of the new website was an inbuilt holiday planner which offers access to literally thousands of travel products and ideas.

Making life even easier and allowing travellers access to expert advice, the site also offers a comprehensive listing of the national tourist office's more than 400 nationally-spread 'Matai' specialist travel agents, each of which is well fully equipped to handle any Fiji holiday requirement.

The website is also accessible via iPhones, iPads and Android powered tablets.

Mr Pant said the release of the new website was timely given Fiji's ongoing popularity with Australians.

"We welcomed more that 320,000 Australian visitors last year - some 50,000 more than we originally anticipated at the beginning of 2010," he said,

  www.fijime.com.au

Read More

Air Pacific Brings Biggest Names In Paddling To Fiji

Fiji National carrier Air Pacific is bringing the first ever Fijian World Paddle Challenge and some of the biggest names in world paddling to Namotu Island

Fiji and its national carrier Air Pacific are hosting some of the world's biggest names in the sport of Stand Up Paddling (SUP) this November.

To be held just 10 minutes by boat from the Nadi International Airport on the island of Namotu, the Namotu World Paddle Challenge Fiji will consist of a two-part international challenge, featuring the two principal components of current stand up paddle racing: Long distance and Sprint style surf slalom.

It will be an epic battle of skill between all the athletes but all eyes will be on current World Surfing Champion Kai Lenny (HI), who is looking to secure his second world title this year and the current champion, Hawaiian (HI) Connor Baxter who is leading the racing discipline. Hot on their heels is Australian Jamie Mitchell, a 10-time Paddleboard World Champion who will be looking to assert his dominance close to home.

Chuck Patterson (USA), a premier figure in California's exploding market for SUP and winner of some of the biggest races in the last two years, rounds out the world champion roll call.

Athletes from every corner of the globe will stand up to be counted; battling for the Long Distance title as they race across Fiji's unparalleled calm ocean surface and ride the gnarly surf breaks for the Sprint Style title. The event will also provide the perfect platform to generate a wave of adventure tourism in Fiji and position Fiji's affordability as a destination and the Air Pacific's well-established routes from Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Hong Kong and the US mainland Los Angeles.

For Air Pacific, this is only the start of a weeklong festival of paddling. The entire event is seen as the perfectopportunity to introduce the sport to the Fijian people and encourage localparticipation across all levels. The participating athletes will hold clinicsfor the youth of Fiji, shaping future champions of this unique sport and offering some of their best tips to catch the perfect wave. On the final day of the festival Fijian locals and visitors alike will be invited to participate in fun races, family relays and initiation lessons.

The sport of Stand Up Paddling has experienced staggering growth over the last 5 years, reaching all corners of the globe and inspiring people to get out on the water regardless of age, location, and level of physical prowess.

"Air Pacific is honoured to be bringing this exciting event to our own backyard,' said Dave Pflieger, the airline's Managing Director and CEO. "The Ocean is an integral part of Fiji's everyday life and an essential experience for tourists. We strongly believe that the Namotu World Paddle Challenge Fiji will not only bring visitors directly to the event but also ignite the SUP momentum here, both on local and international fronts.

For more information visit http://www.airpacific.com/worldpaddlechallenge

Read More

Sigatoka River Safari Help Build Mavua Village Kindergarten

16 August 2011


Sigatoka River Safari showed helping the villages they work with still remains a number one priority for the company even five years after it first began, with the recent opening of Mavua Kindergarten, in the village of Mavua, Fiji.

With 40 children under 7 years of age living in the village of Mavua a kindergarten was desperately needed and had been wanted for a very long time. The only thing stopping Mavua from building their dream kindergarten was money. Sigatoka River Safari decided to help the village by advancing money to the village to help pay for the building of the kindergarten.

More unexpected funds also came Mavua's way after Sigatoka River Safari hosted a group from Nutrimetics on their tour. Mavua Village was visited by the Nutrimetics Group and after hearing of the village's plight for a kindergarten they generously donated FJD$2000 to the village.

"I decided early on when I started the business in 2006 that I was going to do something every six months to benefit the 15 villages we work with in the hills of Navosa and I have completed numerous projects for all the different villages. With Mavua it was fantastic to see that the Nutrimetics group was also willing to help and were so generous with their donation as it really helped Mavua complete their kindergarten" Said Jay Whyte, Sigatoka River Safari, founder and CEO.

Other village projects completed by Sigatoka River Safari include supplying all the remote villages with new Easy-Tel phones so for the first time ever the villager's could communicate instantly with the outside world, installing fixed water filters in all the villages so they could access clean drinking water all day every day, donating the company's old life jackets to various villages so they could be used when crossing the river to reduce the incidents of drowning and installing a Bore Hole (drinking water) in the local Naqalimare District School after the Government threatened to close the school down unless one was installed.

A percentage of all Sigatoka River Safari fares are also paid directly to the village visited on that day to fund their various respective village projects which have included putting footpaths throughout their villages, fixing and renovating community hall's, improvements to district schools, completing village churches and many other culturally important projects.

For reservations and enquiries please contact Sigatoka River Safari's toll free on 0800 6501 721, Email: safari@sigatokariver.com or visit www.sigatokariver.com

 

Read More

Fiji serves up ‘Bula’ breakfast TV to millions of Australians

Fiji will be the venue for the Channel Nine's Today Show's national Australian weather reports this week.

Scheduled from tomorrow (02 August), the program will feature five daily crosses broadcast live from hotels and resorts on Viti Levu and in the Mamanuca Islands.

An estimated national daily audience peaking at around the 2.7 million mark is expected to tune in to the high rating show.

Fiji hoteliers joining Tourism Fiji and its chief partner in the exercise Qantas Holidays include the Intercontinental Golf Resort & Spa at Natadola (Tuesday), the Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa (Wednesday), Plantation Island Resort (Thursday) and Tokoriki Island Resort (Friday).

All four hotelier partners' properties and their various activities – from sports, spas and kids clubs to culture and romantic venues – will provide settings for the weather updates delivered by weather presenter Steve Jacobs.

Air Pacific has also joined in the exercise flying the crew and its equipment to Fiji.

Tourism Fiji Regional Director Australia, Paresh Pant said the advertising and PR value of the exercise was significant, estimated in excess of AUD1.6 million per day.

"This event provides Tourism Fiji and its partners with a huge opportunity to directly reach large numbers of Australian consumers," he said.

"At the same time the mix of hotels and resorts involved in the broadcast allows us to demonstrate just how multi-faceted Fiji has become to a discerning, nationally-spread audience and our ability to service all travel requirements, irrespective of taste, requirement or budget."

www.fijime.com

Read More

Fiji kicks off 2011 in record form

Hot on the heels of its record breaking 2010 performance which saw more than 318,000 Australians visit Fiji across the year, the destination has kicked off 2011 in strong form with Australian visitor arrivals for January closing in on the 26,000 mark.

Figures released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics this week show a total of 25,718 Australians visited in January establishing a new record for January arrivals.

The figure represents an 11.37 per cent increase over the 23,092 recorded for the same period in 2010.

Australia again continued to be the primary source of arrivals to Fiji for the period, the 25,718 figure constituting 53.08 per cent of all international visitors recorded across January.

Tourism Fiji Regional Director Australia, Paresh Pant said he was confident that the positive start to 2011 was indicative of what he anticipated would prove yet another very strong performance for the destination.

"Given forward booking feedback received from our airline and wholesaler partners for the first half of the year, we are at this stage looking at what we are confident will prove another record year for Fiji from this market," Mr Pant said.

The positive start to the year was reflected across most of the destination's key source markets with combined figures reaching 48,455, an 8.27 per cent increase over the 44,755 achieved in January 2010.

New Zealand visitor numbers remained steady, the 4627 recorded for the month representing a 2.69 per cent increase over January 2010 figures.

Arrivals from the UK/Europe stayed positive, the 4889 arrivals recorded for January representing a 6.54 per cent increase over the 4589 achieved in 2009.

United States of America arrivals also increased in January - from 3939 to 4179 51, a 5.29 per cent year on year increase.

Chinese visitor arrivals continued to grow, increasing to 1207 for the month, a 29.78 per cent growth over the 930 figure achieved for the same period in 2010.

Arrivals from India stayed steady, the 152 figure recorded for January representing a 0.65 month on month decrease.


 

Read More

Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Islands wins Restaurant and Dining Award at the AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards.

Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Island wins the Restaurant and Dining Award at the 2010 Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards, awarded on the 25th February 2011.

This was the 14th annual AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards.  The chief guest at this prestigious event was The Fijian Prime Minister along with 350 guests from all walks of the tourism sector.  On the evening, 13 premium awards were presented in as many categories. 

Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Island won the Restaurant & Dining award for CROSS restaurant in recognition of an establishment that delivers impeccable service, exceptional food and great atmosphere. CROSS restaurant is regarded as the premiere dining choice on Denarau by locals, resort guests and visiting dignitaries. 

Radisson Resort Fiji opened its doors in 2007 with 270 spacious guest Rooms and 1 bedroom suites providing a unique blend of accommodation options on Denarau Island.  Over the last few years, Radisson Resort Fiji invested heavily in its Food and Beverage operations to cater to the changing needs of its customers as well as understanding the challenges of Food and Beverage quality, variety and value on Denarau.  CROSS restaurant underwent a complete refurbishment in 2010 with upgraded air conditioned area, new entrance, furniture and an extensive hand selected wine cellar to boost.  All this combined with attentive service and outstanding cuisine in an appealing beachfront location.  The new look CROSS restaurant also includes a private dining area to cater to small groups.  Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Island now has a perfect combination of dining options with Neptune on the beach for casual meals, Water Court Asian restaurant overlooking Denarau's only water fall feature, Blu restaurant with Churassco Fijian style cuisine and Lomani Wai which means "dining in the water" in Fijian. 

Acknowledging the high level of service delivery and broader success, Radisson Resort Fiji Denarau Island was nominated in two categories: Restaurant & Dining and Accommodation Deluxe 

Greg Maloney, General Manager of Radisson Resort Fiji said, "It is an honor and privilege to be recognized for this specific award.  Over the years, the challenges in food and beverage have always been a point of contention for visitors to Fiji and we had to step up to the plate so to speak, to ensure we did all we could to change this.  The menu we provide is varied and features local produce in a diverse culinary style.  A specialty of the restaurant is Kava Ice-cream which is quiet unique.  In addition, there is a wide selection of wines not readily found in other locations around Fiji enhancing the overall dining experience. This is also a strong acknowledgment for the team at CROSS who have worked hard to build and deliver an exceptional product" 
 

Read More

Fiji just 11,000 Australians shy of best ever annual figure

Tourism Fiji is getting ready to celebrate a record year for the destination with November 2010 statistics taking the destination's Australian visitor arrival tally to just 11,100 shy of a best-ever 300,000 annual result.

Figures released this week by Fiji's Bureau of Statics show a total of 23,615 Australians visited Fiji across November, the figure taking the destination's 11-month tally to 288,884.

This in itself represents a massive 30 per cent over the 222,998 achieved for the same period in 2009.

As importantly, and again underlining the strength of the Australian market to Fiji, the 288,884 figure also represents 50 per cent of Fiji's total international visitor arrival tally – 576,987 - for the 11-month period.

Tourism Fiji's regional director Australia, Paresh Pant said he was "in no doubt whatsoever" that Fiji would cross the 300,000 mark with both local and Fiji industry partners indicating a very strong December from the Australian market.

The Australian result once again had major impact for Fiji's overall arrival figures with the destination now needing just 23,000 international visitors across December in order to pass the 600,000 mark for the very first time.

"In reality that should be a very easy task given that Fiji has on average hosted some 50,000 international visitors every December since 2007," Mr Pant said.

The 576,987 international tally for the 11-month period represents a 17.2 per cent increase over the 492,173 figure achieved for the same period in 2009.

Following the Australian lead, the majority of Fiji's key source markets also showed positive growth with figures from China and India – plus 86 per cent and 25.5 per cent respectively - leading the way.

Growth was also recorded from the USA (plus 7.2 per cent) and the UK/Europe (plus 7 per cent) while New Zealand numbers stayed positive achieving a one per cent increase.

Read More

BLC takes out prime honour at AIME 2011

Blue Lagoon Cruises has been presented with the prestigious 'Most Preferred Venue - Pacific Islands 2010' award while participating at the Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings EXPO (AIME) in Melbourne.

The iconic Fiji boutique cruise operator beat off strong international opposition to take out the honour, presented to the company as part of the influential EventConnect.com inaugural 'Preferred Suppliers Awards'.

Commenting on the win, Blue Lagoon Cruises' CEO, Tim Stonhill said the receipt of the award represented major recognition for the company.

"This is an acknowledgement of our ongoing ability to deliver a world-class MICE product combining a very relaxed and highly informal 'barefoot' approach in a truly unique South Seas environment," Mr Stonhill said.

"But no matter how high the standard achieved, integral to everything we do is our ability to continue to present a first-class product that embodies the uniqueness of Fiji and its people.

"And that remains our key point of difference.

"I would like to thank the ships' crews and staff for the part they play in ensuring that collectively, we continue to deliver a first-class MICE product that is the envy of the South Pacific."

Blue Lagoon Cruises' former MICE client base includes some very well known brands – Metcash, More FM New Zealand, Fuji Xerox, Arnotts, Fosters, Ericcson, Honda, Mobil Oil, DreamWorks, Coors, Subaru and Variety Queensland.

One of the company's biggest outcomes in 2010 came when it won a tender pitched to Mondo Travel Group to host a total of nine cruise charters involving some 500 passengers from the New Zealand-based The Radio Network (TRN).

The inaugural EventConnect.com 'Preferred Suppliers Awards' have been developed to recognise those venues and services listed within the company's website which have gained the most 'votes' from buyers that 'tag' their preferred suppliers.

Approximately 3000 votes were cast to 853 venues and services across the Asia Pacific region during 2010.

Award categories are defined by four major search regions; Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands within which there are two categories - venues and services.

Pictured Blue Lagoon Cruises' Director of Sales Australia & New Zealand, Lauren Mossop with the EventConnect.com 'Most Preferred Venue - Pacific Islands 2010' award presented at AIME 2011.


www.bluelagooncruises.com

Read More

Fiji records best ever October for AU visitor arrivals

Fiji is bang on target for a record breaking year from the Australian market with Tourism Fiji Regional Director Australia, Paresh Pant predicting more than 300,000 Australians will have visited the destination when final 12 month figures are released later this year.

Tourism Fiji Regional Director Australia, Paresh Pant

Mr Pant's comments follow the release of Fiji Bureau of Statistics showing 32,101 Australians travelled to the destination in October 2010.

The 32,101 figure brings the total of Australian visitor arrivals for the 10-month period to 263,494.

This in itself represents a six per cent increase over the 248,589 Australian visitor total Fiji achieved across the entire 12-month period January-December 2009.

"Provisional figures received from our Australian industry partners indicate we have also done extremely well in November and December from this market," Mr Pant said.

"If these bear fruit, and we are confident they will, we  will definitely cross the 300,000 for the first time which is a massive achievement for us."

Australian figures again continued to dominate Fiji's overall visitor arrival picture with the 32,101 figure constituting a huge 54.14 per cent of the total 59,290 international visitors visiting the destination in October.

October figures from other key international source markets also showed growth.

These included New Zealand (plus 6.52 per cent) and the USA (plus 7.2 per cent).

Fiji again registered impressive gains, albeit off small numbers, from both the China and India markets which increased by 58.27 per cent and 51 per cent, respectively.


Visit: www.fijime.com

Read More

Tourism Fiji tackles Australian Fijian Rugby League stars

Pictured: Members of the Tourism Fiji industry team rubbing shoulders with international rugby league star and Penrith Panthers captain, Petero Civinoceva at the recent 2011 Petero Civinoceva Medal Awards at the New South Wales Leagues Club in Sydney.

Tourism Fiji is a major sponsor of the event which annually recognises the contribution players of Fijian origin contribute to the sport.

Dual international and West Tigers' winger, Lote Tuqiri took out top honours on the night being presented with the inaugural Australian Triple International Achievement Award.

Pictured (from left to right):  Cindy Lanyon, Shangri-la Fijian Resort & Spa; Luisa Finiasi, Regional Marketing Officer, Tourism Fiji Australia; Navi Gagalia, InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa; Petero Civinoceva, Patron, AFRL; George Toge, Mana Island Resort & Spa; Gloria Osborne, Musket Cove Island Resort & Spa, and Una Letewale, Warwick Fiji Resort & Spa.

Attending the awards night and meeting many of the players was a major score for the Fiji industry representatives.

The five-man Fiji-based industry team was in town to join the national tourist office in promoting the destination at the Sydney Bridal EXPO, now the biggest annual wedding/honeymoon showcase in the South Pacific.

Visit: www.fijime.com

 

Read More

Tourism Fiji to maintain Australia/NZ regional offices

Tourism Fiji CEO
Josefa Tuamoto

Tourism Fiji's newly appointed Chairman Dave Pflieger and CEO Josefa Tuamoto today noted that contrary to a New Zealand trade report on Monday, Fiji's national tourist office had no intention of closing or consolidating any of its various offices.

Speaking from the national tourist office's head office in Nadi, Mr Pflieger noted that "there are absolutely no plans to close or consolidate any of Tourism Fiji's offices."

He went on to add that he expected Mr Tuamoto and his team "will stay focused on the key markets of Australia and New Zealand because those two countries are Fiji's first and second most important sources for visitors."

Mr Tuamoto added that "while some adjustments are planned for our marketing spend this year, Australia and New Zealand will continue to receive the lion's share of Fiji's government funded FJD23.5 million tourism budget."

He went on to say that "if anything, our key change for 2011 is to place even more emphasis on how and where we will be doing our marketing activity within Australia and New Zealand, so that we can maximize Fiji's return on investment in this key national industry."

Mr Tuamoto pointed towards recently released Fiji bureau of statistics figures which show the destination's total international visitor arrivals for September 2010 had again been boosted by strong performances from both of these key markets.

Read More

Ninth Edition of Moon Fiji

Avalon Travel Publishing has launched the 9th edition of Moon Fiji, the original travel guide to the 322-island Fiji archipelago. Since 1985, Moon Fiji has been the leading travel guidebook to Fiji. Author David Stanley has been writing about the South Pacific since 1979, and over the years tens of thousands of Pacific travelers have used his guides to Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa, Micronesia, and the South Pacific.

Moon Fiji's 419 pages are packed with photos and maps. Unlike the maps in other guidebooks, the 53 maps in Moon Fiji are clearly labeled without confusing numbered keys. To allow for detail, there are three street maps of Fiji's capital Suva and two of the gateway city Nadi. Most of the 170 photos are new to this edition and many of them are in color.

The 24-page color section at the front of the book has been expanded with a pair of 10-day suggested itineraries and four travel strategies.

Summaries of sports and recreation, beaches, natural attractions, and culture will help you plan your trip. Moon Fiji's 122 pages of reference material are tucked unobtrusively into the back of the book. The Background chapter provides an in-depth introduction to Fiji, while Essentials has everything you'll need to know about transportation and practicalities. Tips for Travelers caters to those with special needs.

The nine travel chapters offer specific advice on sightseeing, lodging, food, transport, and facilities throughout Fiji with exact prices are quoted. Tiny Must See and Top Pick symbols help readers choose among the many things to see and do. David Stanley researches his books incognito and eschews the "hospitality" many other travel writers enjoy and the
listings are thorough and critical. Moon Fiji has been designed to compliment other media, and internet addresses and emails are provided whenever possible. There is much information not found on commercial websites or in the free brochures.

Rob Kay of FijiGuide.com had this to say about Moon Fiji: "Stanley excels at getting accurate information on hotels, inexpensive restaurants, and tourist sites. However there is another reason why his guide is valuable.

Stanley does not simply list the properties in alphabetical order and expect the reader to determine what's best. Based on personal visits and feedback from visitors, he will actually offer you an opinion and the straight facts."

About Moon Fiji

The 9th edition of Moon Fiji (ISBN 1598807374 or 978-1598807370) was published by Avalon Travel Publishing of Berkeley, California, in January, 2011. Priced at US$19.95, this book is distributed worldwide by The Perseus Books Group. To order online, visit
http://www.southpacific.org/fiji.html

Read More

Sonaisali Island Resort Welcomes New General Manager

Sonaisali Island Resort is pleased to announce that Nathan Robinson has joined our dynamic Senior Management Team in the capacity of General Manager. Nathan joins Sonaisali after similar roles throughout Australia.

Nathan's previous role before moving to Fiji was as General Manager with Ocean Hotels in the Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia. Prior to that his appointments have been with several resorts and hotels throughout Australia including Hayman Island, Sofitel Gold Coast and Marriott hotels in Brisbane and Gold Coast, as well as time spent within the Aged care industry on the Gold Coast, Australia. Nathan also spent time at the Eco friendly Couran Cove Island Resort just off shore of the Gold Coast, Queensland and the Holiday Inn Darwin, Northern Territory.

Nathan is excited to be able to share his background with the team at Sonaisali and is looking forward to further developing existing policies and practices on the island. Of particular interest is further enhancing Sonaisali's long standing position as being a leading edge resort when it comes to environmental practices.

Commenting on his new role, Nathan has advised "my career has taken me too many places within Australia including island resorts but I am excited about working in Fiji and the opportunity to work with the owners, management and staff at Sonaisali Island Resort and with the ongoing developments within the company. The people are amazing and having visited Fiji before, I love the culture and climate that the country has to offer".

Sonaisali Island Resort's Managing Director, Aaron McGrath, said "I am delighted to welcome Nathan to the Sonaisali Management Team, Nathan brings to this role a wealth of experience and knowledge, which will be a welcome asset to the Resort. I am looking forward to having him lead the team here at Sonaisali".

4 Star Sonaisali Island Resort is a true island escape, a small green dot in the beautiful South Pacific Ocean - yet the world you've left behind is only a 3 minute boat ride across the lagoon from the Main Island and 25mins drive from Nadi International Airport.

Read More

Tourism Fiji launches new ‘Romance Me’ website

Further positioning Fiji as one of the world's premier destinations for the international wedding, honeymoon and romantic travel sector Tourism Fiji has this week launched its new look 'Romance Me' website.

Easily located on the national tourist office's umbrella website at www.FijiMe.com/RomanceMe, the new look website carries considerably more information on the legal requirements for those considering getting married in Fiji or reaffirming their wedding vows, honeymooning or simply looking for a couples holiday in one of the most romantic locales on the planet.

The new website also contains a much increased section detailing the various operators who can help plan that perfect romantic visit.

The huge number of hotels and resorts now offering specialised wedding and honeymoon facilities in Fiji has also been increased.

Additional new features include an image gallery complete with video clips and for the first time, a blog.

Visit: www.fijime.com

Read More

Vatulele Named Fiji's Leading Resort in 2010 World Travel Awards

Vatulele Island Resort, Fiji, has just been announced as Fiji's Leading Resort in the 2010 Travel Awards.

Coined as the ultimate in barefoot luxury, Vatulele Island resort is located on one of the most stunning islands in the world. Priding itself on offering the utmost in luxurious and opulent service, Vatulele will cater to the guests every whim.

Described as the 'Oscars' of the travel and tourism industry by The Wall Street Journal, World Travel Awards represent the ultimate accolade for a company. This year, a phenomenal 185,000 industry professionals participated in the voting process which is both monitored and independently audited.

Vatulele is not only the home away from home for many celebrities, but is a private haven for those looking for a true barefoot retreat. 17 stunning bures pan the beach front and are met at each end with Vale Viqi (the Grand Honeymoon Bure), and The Point. If extravagance is what you are after these bures definitely deliver, even treating you to private butler service.

Vatulele was last awarded this prestigious accolade in 2007. At Vatulele Island Resort the attention to detail and focus on the guest experience is paramount but never taking away from the true beauty of Vatulele, this is the ultimate island paradise.

www.vatulele.com

Read More

Green Steps – attacking Fiji's litter problem

Established in Fiji as an environmental beautification company, Green Steps has been busy cleaning beaches in the Suva area. Seeing the need to improve the cleanliness of the beaches and foreshore around Suva, Alexander Austin founded the company in 2008.

“I go out and get companies and individuals to “sponsor” rubbish bins. The funds raised from the advertising on the bins not only pays for the bin itself, but it pays the wages for a small group of young men which I employ through Green Steps to empty and maintain the rubbish bins as well as to clean the beaches and foreshore of Suva.”

So far Green Steps has installed 100 rubbish bins in the Suva area and there are plans for more to be installed. With these expansion plans in place, there are also plans to increase the number of employees.

Mr. Austin also believes that “people in the Pacific and in particular Fiji, need to be taught that rubbish has to be disposed of properly. An empty container might be useless to us after a picnic, but is absolutely deadly to the marine environment.”

“There are many items which end up on the beaches around Fiji because people are either too lazy or too ignorant to put rubbish in the right place. The problem with all this litter is that in addition to being an eye sore, it’s unhealthy and the marine inhabitants cannot digest it.”

The company has also been active in educating the public especially school students on the importance of cleanliness and the use of rubbish bins in public places.

For more information of Green Steps and what they are doing please contact: Alexander Austin at alex@purefiji.com - Green Steps on Facebook

Read More

Record July figures take Fiji AU 2010 visitor arrivals past 155,000 mark

Close on 1000 Australians visited Fiji every day throughout July helping to chalk up another new monthly record for the destination.

A total of 29,436 Australians (an average of 949 per day) visited across the month, a 19 per cent increase on the 24,729 figure achieved for the same period in 2009 according to figures released this week by the Fiji department of information.

The strong July performance takes Fiji's total Australian for the seven month period January to July to 156,720 in itself a 38 per cent increase over the 113,149 total achieved in 2009.

The Australian result has again helped push Fiji's international visitor arrival figures for the year into new ground with a 339,056 total recorded for the January-July period.

This represents a growth of over 19.5 per cent the same period last year.

Australian business now represents 53 per cent of total traffic.

The positive Australian result was reflected across all of Fiji's key markets.

This included a return to positive growth for Canadian visitor arrivals – up five per cent to 1782 - for the first time this year.

New Zealand visitor arrivals climbed by six per cent to 13,949 while US figures rose by five per cent to reach 6560.

The national tourist office's ongoing efforts in several key emerging markets continued to pay off – albeit off small base numbers - with visitor arrivals from China achieving a massive 149 per cent increase.

Taiwan business grew by 45 per cent while visitor arrivals from India climbed by 15 per cent.

Traffic from the UK/Europe remained steady and while increases for the month only rose by 0.7 per cent, the destination is bracing itself for a very strong result in August, the traditional holiday and travel month for much of the northern hemisphere.

Visit: www.fijime.com

Read More

Air Pacific earns praise from Fiji

source: Travel Mole

Tourism Fiji has attributed strong growth in the number of Chinese visitors to direct Hong Kong-Nadi services established by Air Pacific.

Tourism Fiji CEO Josefa Tuamoto has applauded Air Pacific’s decision to add a third service on the route from next December.

Tuamoto said the airline’s decision to implement the Hong Kong-Nadi service ten months ago had been more than vindicated by the substantial increase in Chinese visitor arrivals Fiji had welcomed since Air Pacific commenced flying on the route.

Tuamoto said while the numbers came off a relatively small base, the 7,684 Chinese visitor arrivals recorded for the period January to June 2010 represented a close on 32 percent increase over the same period last year.

“This has effectively pushed China into place as our eighth main source of international arrivals.”

Tuamoto also paid tribute to the efforts the local tourism industry in raising Fiji’s profile in China.

“We’ve put in some very hard yards to attract and engage this prime source of visitor arrivals."

This, he said, included attending major consumer and trade events and staging travel agents workshops in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Last month Tourism Fiji launched the national tourist office’s first ever Fiji travel planner for the Chinese market.

Read More

Fiji’s maintains the ‘roaring 40’s’ as AU visitor arrivals for June establish yet another new benchmark

Fiji's maintains the 'roaring 40's' as AU visitor arrivals for June establish new benchmark

• Fiji stays  bang on track for record breaking year
• 'Multi-faceted Fiji' marketing strategy continuing to pay dividends in AU marketplace

Fiji has once again smashed all previous Australian visitor figures for a month of June with numbers released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics this week showing the destination recorded a total of 27,651 arrivals for the period – a massive 48.3 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2009.

The record breaking figure eclipses the 18,673 total achieved for June 2009 and in the process takes the destination's total Australian visitor arrival tally for the 2010 six month period to 127,284.

This represents a 43.9 per cent increase over the 88,420 achieved for the same period in 2009.

Tourism Fiji regional director Australia Paresh Pant said the performance means Australian arrivals now represent close on 47 per cent of Fiji's  total international visitor intake for the year to date.

"Our Australian visitor arrivals are continuing to play a major role in keeping Fiji bang on track for its best ever year on record," he said.

"This result is again indicative of the impact our overall marketing strategy for the destination in this marketplace is having in combination with the huge efforts we are seeing from our local airline, wholesale and retail partners which continue to keep Fiji very much in the spotlight."

The Australian result has again helped take Fiji's international visitor arrival figures for the year into new ground with a total of 272,250 recorded for the January-June period.

This represents a 21.5 per cent increase over the 224,334 recorded over the same six month period in 2009 with substantial gains recorded in Fiji's second and third largest source markets – New Zealand and the US – which increased by 16. 4 per cent and 9.1 per cent, respectively.

The national tourist office's ongoing efforts in several key emerging markets are also continuing to pay off with visitor arrivals from China increasing by 31.3 per cent and Indian visitor arrivals climbing by 28.6 per cent.

Traffic from the UK/Europe also increased by 3.0 per cent, the slight but positive increase attributed to the region's slow but steady recovery from the GFC in the period leading up to the key northern hemisphere holiday period.

Read More