Wednesday 20th March 2013 Issue 12
WE GREET YOU all with BIG Beautiful SMILEs and we wish YOU A HAPPY Day. it’s United Nation’s International Day of HappINESS THIS WEEK. Keep smiling Vanuatu Tourism
Feature News from the office Staff Out n About’s Industry News Trade and Media Website Newcomer Events & Entertainment Advertisement
Editor/Publisher: VTO Host online: Issuu.com Design: VTO Photo credits: VTO, Jacquie Carson, John Nicolls, ETTA, l’Houstalet. ©All rights reserved. This electronic magazine may not be reproduced in any form, in whole, or part, without the consent of the publisher. The VTO can not be held liable for any information contained in the advertisements.
COPYRIGHT: VANUATU TOURISM OFFICE
Vanuatu Tourism Office, PO Box 209, Port Vila, Vanuatu. Ph (678) 22515 / 22685. Web www.vanuatu.travel Email tourism@vanuatu.travel
News from the office Vanuatu Week – Wholesale Res Team Training
During the week 12 to 14 March the VTO organised and co-ordinated a “Vanuatu Week” with the NZ Wholesalers conducting intensive training sessions with all Reservations Teams and inviting Vanuatu Suppliers to be involved. Each training session was conducted in the offices of the Wholesale Company from 5.30pm to 7.30pm, the VTO supplied Pizzas and Wine, Beer and Soft drinks for the staff. A destination update was conducted at the beginning of each session, followed by an update by Air Vanuatu and then presentations by the Vanuatu Suppliers. The suppliers involved were; The Grand, Le Lagon, Iririki, Mangoes, The Terraces, Aore Island, Melanesian Hotel, Holiday Inn and The Havannah. The feedback received from our wholesale partners was very positive and res teams reported that Vanuatu features strongly this year in quotations and bookings and the update was very timely for their reservation staff. The VTO will now be organizing a Wholesale Famil on the back of this activity to assist in the continued updating of Res Teams knowledge of the destination. The Wholesalers involved were; House of Travel, Go Holidays, Our Pacific and Flight Centre.
Out
Vanuatu week Product Managers/Trade Media Lunch
To finalise the “Vanuatu Week” Product Managers and Trade Media were invited to a lunch hosted by the VTO, the participating suppliers also attended the lunch. The lunch was held at the Billfish Café in the city and was well attended by our partners; Mike Geary House of Travel, Gareth Waddington Go Holidays, Alyssa Field Stella, Mandy Veale Mondo Travel, Sharon Lifestyle Holidays, Hayley Brown AOT (Air NZ Holidays), Fran Islandtime and Stu Freeman Travelinc.
n’ About Photos taken during Product Manager / Trade Media Lunch which was hosted by VTO New Zealand representative, Ms Jacquie Carson, ending a successful Vanuatu week in Aotearoa.
Centre-Michelle Clement (Mangoes Resort) catches up with right-Alyssa Field (Stella Travel) and left-Hayley Brown from AOT (Air NZ Holidays).
L-R: Greg Maloney (Aore Is. Resort / Melanesian Hotel), Richard Elliot (Air Vanuatu), and Liza Walsh (Warwick Le Lagon).
Local Industry Tanna Evergreen Resort Reef Rescue
The past few years have seen a large-scale spawning of Crown-of-Thorns starfish (COTs) throughout the Vanuatu archipelago. Once-beautiful healthy coral reefs have been eaten out by an onslaught of these underwater pests. Where the front-line has moved through, there is a scene of desolation, akin to the aftermath of a forest fire, as acropora and plate corals first appear to go white (as the polyps are systematically *slurped-up* & ingested) and then within weeks a black algae covers the now-lifeless calcium substrate. This algae then makes it difficult for new coral spawn in the summer months to get a grasp on viable underwater real-estate to start off new colonies of coral. The COTs also wait until the waters are warmer to spawn and when they do, they spawn in the millions from December to March. So a serious plague which is already underway in Vanuatu, gets a massive reinforcement of baby COTs which continue the devastation into the future, until virtually all the corals are eaten out. A cycle like this has been seen to occur about every 18 years. In some areas, with stronger currents and lots of nutrients in the water, the reefs can completely bounce back within 8 years of a COTs outbreak. But many areas just never recover. The fastermoving COTs seem to be munching their way along a band of coral in depths from 5 to 15 meters of water, so too hard for snorkellers to duck-dive down to efficiently, but easy for scuba divers to operate in for an hour at a time. Read more. Photo on the right: John Nicholls counting the first batch of cots brought in by staff, they earned equivalent to one day’s pay in one hour.
Kerty Manager of Banyan Castle Bungalow president for ETTA
Written by Daniel Ringiau-Tafea Tourism Business Development Officer: During this year of East Tanna Tourism Association- Annual General Meeting, held on 13th Mars, 2013 at Island Dream Bungalow in Port Resolution, Mr John Kerty, Manager of Banyan Castle Bungalow was appointed by the ETTA members as president for this year 2013. ETTC executive’s board is made up of the president, Mr Jhon Kerty, vice president, Mr. Joseph Kamisak, Treasurer, Mrs Nessam Iata, Secretary, Mr. Jepherth Amon and other Annual Events Sub-committee, Mr Kelson Hosea, Natang Kota, Wery Narua, Poida and Merry- follow by Marketing sub-committee Mr Nessam Iata., Robert and other ETTA members. Read more.
SPTO soon to launch revamped website!
The South Pacific Tourism Organization has announced that its ready for the official launch of the newly revamped website in Suva on March 25th. The website will not only be an innovative web portal that is one of the most valuable tourism promotional tools for the region and individual member countries but also will include two other passwordprotected specialized microsites for the South Pacific Travel Specialist Programme and the South Pacific Cruise Information Manual; a social media site; and an exciting new password-protected members only section! This members section will feature a hugely valuable Regional Tourism Resource Centre (currently under construction; to be launched in July, 2013) which will accommodate a series of research and statistical databases and other proprietary data and information as well as an online library of relevant tourism reports, tourism marketing tools, access to SPTO’s new image libraries and links to other useful websites. In the revamped site, SPTO members and NTOs will now be in full control of their own page and much more. For more information contact Pauline Benson | South Pacific Tourism Organisation | E-marketing Specialist on pbenson@spto.org.
WEBSITE NEWCOMER L’Houstalet Restaurant
Trade & MediA Fireworks and smiles on Tanna Island
By Anne Morris on Air Vanuatu blog: Was I nervous? Slightly. Was I excited? Oh yes! It was my first trip to the mighty Mount Yasur volcano on Tanna and having only ever seen active volcanoes from a distance I knew I was going to be in for a treat. After a very short flight from Port Vila with Air Vanuatu (only 35 minutes) we landed at White Grass airport on Tanna. I could not stop smiling at the first impressions of the island while walking into the quaint airport building amongst a lush island backdrop. Read full blog
Be Part Of The Pacific’s First Tourism Investment Database
In a collaborative project between Pacific Islands Trade & Invest (PT&I) and the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), Pacific Islands tourism businesses will soon be able promote their enterprises to international investors via an online Tourism Investment Database. It will be the only Tourism Investment Database of its kind in the region and will allow investors to search for projects to invest in and make an enquiry, all in the one place. The objective of the project is to encourage foreign direct investment which will stimulate sustainable economic growth and employment opportunities for the region. The database will build on the success of PT&I’s existing investment database by highlighting investment opportunities specifically in the tourism sector. Read more and download questionnaire.
EVENTS & festivals
Advertisements