The Serua Drummers performing at the Westpac Fiji-sponsored Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange cocktail at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa Hotel Natadola on Wednesday night. Photo SHEIK DEAN
By LITIA MATHEWSELL
The natural affability of its people is an attractive trait that sets the Pacific apart from other tourist destinations and a marketing point for the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.
The regional body promotes the tourism interest of its 16 member countries and is part of the large contingent of wholesalers and tourism operators at the 2013 Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange in Natadola.
The Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange ends today at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa.
Marketing manager Petero Manufolau said the exchange remains their key exhibition within the region and a key platform to promote the allure of the Pacific.
“In terms of sun, sea and sand, that can easily be found anywhere in the world but the people itself is what makes the Pacific quite unique and that is what we build on,” Mr Manufolau said.
One of their key objectives is to give wholesalers the opportunity to look at new niche markets in the region and give them more information on what is on offer.
“What we look out for is strengthening existing business relationships with our wholesalers, maintaining that personal relationship we have with product managers.
“We are also soliciting new business for the existing destinations that are normally represented at the BFTE , which are mainly from countries such as Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Tahiti and so forth,’’ he said.
Mr Manufolau also noted the contention for tourists posed by Asia’s highly competitive tourism market.