First wave of yacht rallies due to set sail for Tonga following border closures.

Mr. Viliami Takau, CEO of the Ministry of Tourism and Acting General Manager of Tonga Tourism Authority (TTAB) is in Auckland attending the South Pacific Sailing Network Conference: Reviving South Pacific Cruising 26th -27th April 2023.

The conference which targets marine authorities, individuals, organizations, and businesses involved with yachting around the South Pacific was held at Orams Marine Boat Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

The conference is aimed to meet and discuss how to build a resilient sailing industry while navigating through the reopening of borders across the South Pacific. Mr. Takau is joined by Mr. Joe Caesar from Vava'u Boat Yard presenting on Tonga Yachting at the conference. There were approximately 40 participants at the conference including the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), Vanuatu Tourism, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, Tonga Tourism, Market Development Facility (MDF), and representatives from Customs.

Whilst at the conference Mr. Takau had the opportunity to visit Marinas in Whangarei and Bay of Islands to better understand the nature of the yachting sector in the Pacific and its potential to contributing to Tonga’s recovery and economic development.

The yachting sector includes super yachts and has the potential to be one of the top tourism earners for Tonga through boating provisions, boat maintenance and boat storage to name a few.

It is estimated that yachting arrivals for the coming year will be far greater than that of precovid numbers.

Tonga’s participation was made possible with the kind support of the MDF who will be supporting Tonga’s tourism with funding its first Yachting Strategy.

TTAB are also finalizing discussions with MDF on Tonga’s market branding, and with the potential for further technical assistance and support towards other tourism initiatives.

Tonga is gearing up to welcome the first yacht rally since the reopening of the borders. The first wave of yachts will start arriving on the 18th of May 2023 with approximately 30 yachts confirmed.

An estimated one hundred yacht visitors at least who will visit Tonga. The rally will travel to Nuku’alofa first before cruising north to Ha’apai and on to Vava’u. A majority of the yachts will spend almost two months in Tonga before they set sail to Fiji.