A major US film will be shot on Mana Island in March.

This will definitely create ripples of publicity for Mana Island Resort and Spa as well as the country.

The General Manager, Ulrich Hoffgen confirmed the resort will be exclusively chartered for almost six months for this large US film shooting.

Mr Hoffgen said: “This is a great publicity for Fiji and Mana.”

Although the name of the movie was not disclosed yet, he confirmed the first set of crew is on Mana Island.

“The preparations have begun. From mid July onwards we will have business as usual,” he said.

Thoughts on 2015

He highlighted 2015 was not only a successful but challenging year for the resort.

About $10 million worth of investment was spent on a new jetty, brand new pool and restaurant facilities.

Mr Hoffgen added: “We did not stop the operations during the renovation which was quite extensive. All these things took a lot of effort, man power and a lot of money to materialise but overall, I would say it was a very interesting year for us.”

He added even during the quiet months the resort did exceptionally well having about 30 rooms closed during the renovation period.

“Our occupancy was great and we had a few big events: we had a photography workshop, blue sky event, and schoolies,” he said.

Looking forward to more events

Mana Island Resort and Spa will soon open up to a few more events and larger functions in the future to attract the new guest.

Mr Hoffgen continued: “I think 2016 will be great. With our culinary executive chef Lance Seeto on board, we are planning a lot of culinary events but priority for the moment is to get the film shooting done on Mana.

“We will see how the rest of the year goes but I am sure it will be fantastic!”

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