By RACHNA LAL
Being nominated in the AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards for two consecutive years has given Mantaray Island Resort team in the Yasawa’s a sense of achievement.
The winner of the last Accommodation Budget category is once again in the race to win the prestigious AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards 2013 in the same category.
The gala awards function will be held tomorrow night at the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa on Denarau Island in Nadi.
Administrative manager, Lynn Scott, said: “It gives everyone in the team a tremendous sense of achievement, knowing that we are still delivering our goals and hopefully exceeding the expectations of our guests and industry partners.”
“This is great achievement for us as it shows that we are maintaining a high standard of accommodation and services that give our guests an amazing sense of value for money.
“This award is based on accommodation provided to backpackers and independent or alternative travellers.
“It considers the sustainability aspects of the business with regards to the local community, Environmentalism, Customer Service and, of course our Product, its innovation and how we market ourselves.
“These are just some of the aspects involved, but the main accountability is how we deliver this into an amazing experience for visitors coming to Fiji.”
Importance of award
Being fortunate to win last year, Ms Scott said the award helped them give prospective guests a bench mark on the standards of resorts and accommodation available.
“There are numerous rating systems that are used by guests and their travelling peers to assess the type of accommodation or holiday they are looking for, many of which are online reviews,” she said.
“This helped give guests an excellent way to assess ourselves against other similar resorts which are nominated by third parties, and which are selected by Fijian hospitality industry moguls.
“In essence, Fiji’s own internationally recognisable mark of Quality Assurance for our hospitality industry.”
Ms Scott said these types of awards help to promote Fijis tourism industry and also very much help with the self regulation of our tourism standards.
“The awards encourage industry players to develop and improve their products and services as it offers a benchmark for the industry,” she said.
“These types of awards recognise this on a number of levels.
“It encourages other operators to look how they operate and the products and services they offer as their overall proposition in comparison with other operators with a similar target markets.”