Written By : NANDIKA CHAND. The weddings and honeymoon market continues to play an ever-increasing role in Fiji’s overall niche tourism marketing activities.
Tourism Chairman Patrick Wong highlighted this at its Romance Me Trade Day at the Plantation Island Resort on Friday.
Mr Wong said the objective was to strengthen awareness of Fiji as a romantic destination.
“There is no doubt that the quality of wedding and honeymoon experience in Fiji really enhances the overall appeal and depth of the destination,” he said.
Mr Wong said Tourism Fiji continued to intensify promotions for this segment bringing together trade partners, hotels and resorts.
He said this ensured that the best choice of product was available for those intending to get married or honeymoon in Fiji.
Tourism Fiji has produced a dedicated Romance Me guide designed to sell Fiji as a dream wedding destination.
He said an online version was also posted on their www.fijime.com/romanceme website.
Tourism Fiji invited 16 of New Zealand’s top romantic travel specialists to sample the product first-hand.
The consultants were split into two groups with each group staying at a variety of hotels and resorts in Denarau, on the Coral Coast and in the Mamanucas.
Many of the hotels went out of their way to impress the agents with several mock weddings and romantic settings. This was in order to underline just how sophisticated Fiji has now become with its delivery in this key market segment.
The Fiji visit followed hot on the heels of a week long series of Tourism Fiji ‘Marry Me’ seminars in Nelson, Palmerston North, Tauranga and Auckland.
Tourism Fiji regional director New Zealand, Sala Toganivalu, said:
“Fiji is now very much an obvious choice for New Zealanders. It’s convenient because it’s only three hours away and importantly processes and requirements for weddings in Fiji are very straight forward.
“More to the point it’s far cheaper to get married in Fiji and we offer a diverse range of options guaranteed to satisfy every taste and budget, irrespective of the requirement.”