A luxury three-villa property in the lagoon of Raiatea, French Polynesia is giving New Zealand agents a new option for resort island buyouts in the Pacific, says Alana Eli, sales manager New Zealand and Australia with South Pacific Management (SPM) Hotels.

Motu Nao Nao had a soft opening late 2021 and fully opened this year. The resort has quickly gained traction from the northern hemisphere and Eli says it will definitely suit a niche market here.

The demand from clients to travel to Fiji, even for this year, has come through ‘loud and clear’ during the four-city Fiji Travel Roadshow this week, says Tourism Fiji’s regional director New Zealand, Sonya Lawson.

The roadshow has attracted a total of about 250 agents at events in Christchurch, Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland. Lawson notes that agents came from far and wide – for example, the Christchurch event attracted trade from as far away as Invercargill and the Hamilton function included attendees from Coromandel and Tauranga.

Island Hopper Vacations has itineraries, rates and dates for its Southern Group departures in 2023.

This follows a successful recent charter that visited four islands in eight nights and resulted in enthusiastic reviews.

New Caledonia Tourism has put together four itineraries for trade to base suggestions on, depending on the preferences of clients.

The programmes include Cultural Explorers (13 days), Fun & Sun Seekers (five days), Relaxers / Escapers (nine days) and Excitement Seekers (nine days).

Tourism Fij’s Fiji Roadshow will return to New Zealand in September 2022, visiting four cities.

The NTO is calling on travel sellers to save the date of the event closest to them. The roadshow will give the trade the chance to reconnect with some of Fiji’s leading tour operators and travel partners.

Vanuatu tourism has launched a new Welkam Back to Vanuatu! campaign in New Zealand, Australia and New Caledonia.

The advertising showcases Vanuatu’s tourism offering across radio, outdoor and digital and social.

A boat trip on the jungle-fringed Navua River with the return journey in a tyre tube is just one aspect of a new tour presented at Fijian Tourism Expo.

The River Tubing Fiji experience also includes a visit to a remote village, a swim at a waterfall and riverside lunch.

A new tour puts the focus on a successful initiative that empower Fijian women and communities, while at the same time gives visitors an insight into an emerging coffee enterprise in the country.

Bula Coffee Fiji has been working with villages that harvest wild growing coffee for the last 10 years but only launched the Crop to Cup Coffee Tour about a month ago.

Vanuatu Ecotours has added a number of new options to its portfolio as the destination looks to reopen on 1 July.

This includes a new cascades product, 25 minutes from Port Vila. Crystal Cascades is located in a rainforest setting and is private and exclusive to Vanuatu Ecotours. ‘We believe it complements other cascades products on Efate and will be accessible via a half-day and full day tour,’ says managing director Rob Macalister.

Scenic Matavai Resort will initially open with around half of its capacity offering 32 resort rooms when Niue opens to visitors on 27 June.

This will comprise Deluxe rooms which opened in 2017, together with Superior Clifftop and Superior rooms. All hotel facilities will be open to guests, including the restaurant, lobby bar, pool bar, conference centre and two swimming pools. Authentic Niuean culture will continue to be the focus of the resort’s entertainment offering for evenings and be integrated into many other elements of the guest experience, such as the traditional feast night.

Tourism Fiji’s agent incentive campaign, which was set to be in place until April 30 or until all 120 reward tickets had been secured, has ended in just over three weeks due to the overwhelming number of entries from agents across the country selling Fiji to their clients.

The ‘Sell Fiji Airways and we’ll shout you a ticket to Happiness’ was launched on 14 March as a celebration of New Zealand’s borders opening to Fiji for the first time in two years.

Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort has opened following a $F73m transformation.

The resort has 300 rooms with a choice of oceanfront or garden views and private balconies or patios.

Cook Islands tour operator and destination management company Turama Pacific Travel Group is offering five and seven-night special packages staying at a range of resorts for travel in January and February. They include free airport transfers, an Island Discovery tour and Island Night show and dinner with transfers, and daily breakfasts (unless noted).
 Click here for the specials.

Turama is expecting increased demand out of New Zealand for small group tours now that quarantine-free travel has resumed between the two countries.

The ‘Covid pause’ of the last 20 months has given time for one of Fiji’s best known tourism operators to rebrand and refocus.

Pacific Destinations Fiji is now TEWAKA, with a logo designed around the mangrove plant in the form of a Fijian Tapa design.

French Polynesian cargo cruise line Aranui Cruises has released its 2023 programme. This includes a dedicated Austral Islands explorer featuring the ‘Bora Bora of the south’, a bonus Pitcairn sailing to make up for cancelled Covid cruises and the cruise line’s first five-day cruise.

On sale now, the 2023 programme is Aranui’s most diverse, featuring 25 scheduled cruises ranging from five to 13-days and calling at 26 islands around the South Pacific on Aranui 5, a 125-metre mixed freight and passenger vessel, which offers one of the few remaining cargo cruise experiences in the world.

Travel agents are being encouraged to become a New Caledonia Specialist through New Caledonia Tourism’s e-learning programme.

The destination has introduced three new modules (in addition to the first three launched at the end of 2020) as well as an initiative to protect New Caledonia’s biodiversity.

The travel trade and clients have responded with enthusiasm to the Cook Islands Government’s announcement that two-way quarantine-free travel between New Zealand and the Cook Islands will resume on 14 January 2022 (NZ time).

However, wholesalers and agents say they are now keenly waiting for more information on border openings in Q1 2022.

As it stands, the Cook Islands will be the only international destination that people in New Zealand can travel to and from for a holiday, without any quarantine or isolation.

Moves are afoot to have four UNESCO Geoparks established in the Pacific, a development expected to boost tourism in a sustainable way while focusing on not only geology but also culture.

It is possible that these and others may form a ‘Geopark trail’ around the Pacific.

At a South Pacific Tourism Office (supported by the South Pacific Community, SPC) webinar this week, it was noted that a number of steps needed to be taken at all sites (some more than others) before a submission could be made to UNESCO.

After the recent announcement of Fiji’s borders opening on 1 December, hotel and resort bookings have soared.

The industry has seen tremendous momentum and record bookings, predominantly from families looking for a reunion, couples wanting to escape and groups looking to celebrate missed milestones.

Fiji will open to international travellers on 1 December. Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama said in statement on Sunday that Fiji is ready to welcome travellers back to its shores.

‘We are entirely confident in our ability to manage the risk associated with quarantine-free travel. Our planes are prepared. Our airports are adapted.’

The official announcement came as Fiji reached its goal to get 80% of its eligible population fully vaccinated.

Yesterday marked a border milestone between Vanuatu and New Zealand as 154 seasonal workers arrived in Christchurch with the commencement of the one-way travel bubble from Vanuatu to New Zealand.

‘The new travel bubble establishes a series of new protocols in both Vanuatu and New Zealand to create this safe travel pathway,’ says Len Tarivonda, director of Vanuatu’s Public Health. ‘It is the first stage in testing the systems we have put in place in Vanuatu and ensuring our citizens are prepared for travel.

‘Naturally we are hopeful that this will lead to two-way travel between our countries – however we need to take it step by step to ensure our preparations are sound,’ says Tarivonda.

Tourism Fiji is advising the New Zealand trade that key resorts and hotels will be ready for their clients when they return, with many having refurbished, renovated and even added to their offerings while international visitors have been away.

The Sheraton Fiji Resort has renovated its guests’ rooms and revitalised the lobby space. The resort has three new dining experiences designed by CHADA; Tatavi Grill & Bar Restaurant, Island 619 and 28g (Grams). Additionally, the meeting spaces have been given a new look.

Taumeasina Island Resort, close to Apia’s CBD, will soon complete the addition of new villas.

According to general manager Tuitaga Nathan Bucknall, the new development consists of 12 self contained three-bedroom villas offering views of the Pacific Ocean.

The new villas are larger in size compared to those which are part of the original build. All are on the mainland by the main entrance and directly face Taumeasina Island.

Samoa’s Covid-19 contact tracing app, Samoa Travel Tracer, has been officially launched in Apia by Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa.

The platform is a joint initiative between the Ministry of Health and Samoa Tourism Authority and is a vital component of the Samoa Travel-Ready Toolkit.The toolkit also includes vaccination, tourism business operator training and maintenance, and sales and marketing initiatives.

Samoa Travel Tracer is based on the privacy-preserving BlueTrace protocol developed in Singapore, and it was developed locally in partnership with SkyEye and the Samoa Information Technology Association.

Tourism Fiji has a new initiative to encourage all Fijians to be ready to welcome back international visitors when travel resumes. The initiative communicates a simple, but important, message in a bid to reach 100% vaccination of eligible population in Fiji.

‘It’s our best shot at travel: get vaccinated and get ready,’ will be shared across Tourism Fiji’s digital channels, both locally and globally.

‘The campaign also includes a toolkit for the Fijian tourism industry so they too can encourage Fijians to support the drive to get vaccinated and be ready to reopen,’ says Brent Hill, Tourism Fiji CEO.