Paradise Cove Resort’s villa ready to open for guests next week. Photo: WAISEA NASOKIA
By JYOTI PRATIBHA
Investing in Fiji’s tourism industry is one of the best choices for any investor, says Nick Wood, the general manager of soon-to-be opened Paradise Cove Resort.
Nestled in the hearts of Yasawa Islands, this new resort is set to open its doors on Monday.
The $8-million investment in the resort has been made by Mr Wood and his team which already has two successful island resorts- Blue Lagoon Beach Resort and Octopus Island Resort.
After investing in Octopus Island Resort more than 10 years ago, Mr Wood invested in Blue Lagoon Beach Resort three years ago.
His latest investment on Naukacuvu Island, in the Yasawas combines the best of his earlier two resorts.
Resort fully-booked
Paradise Cove Resort, which is currently under the process of final touch ups, before the grand opening on Monday, has been fully booked out for the next few months.
Mr Wood leased the island in late 2011 and started construction proper by May 2012. In little over a year, the resort is ready to open.
The 80-plus staff employed at the resort are either from the nearby villages or from the mainland.
As of now, the resort has beach front villas and bungalows.
The resort would also be constructing a three storey complex for hotel like rooms and accommodation.
The new thing with this resort is the option to purchase homes from the management, which could be leased back to the resort or be kept as a private holiday destination for families.
Community fund
As the practice with the sister resorts, Paradise Cove Resort has already started looking into ways of assisting the villagers of Soso Island, where their landowners are from.
Mr Wood said for their community fund, through which they provide scholarships for students from primary school education to tertiary education, they encourage guests to donate $1 per day.
For every dollar raised, the resort management puts in $3.
Investing in Fiji
Mr Wood said for him, Fiji has always been the best place to invest.
“The political upheavals have never affected any one on the ground. I really think Fiji is the best place to invest,” he said.
“Fiji has really always been relatively consistent in their result of the tourism industry.
“There has not been a drop in tourism, it has been relatively consistent and it is of course the biggest tourism market in the Pacific.”
He said that devaluation of the Fijian dollar was a smart move by the Fijian Government to ensure tourism numbers remain high.
Mr Wood said tourists do not really pay heed to any negative publicity Fiji gets in overseas media.
He said that it is easier for people to sit in Australia and New Zealand and make noises, without knowing the ground reality.
He said in all his three resorts, he has had a chance to deal with tourists first hand and seen the special bond Fijians and their visitors have.
More explore Fiji
Mr Wood said a lot of Europeans were now also exploring Fiji as a holiday destination.
“I have been working in Fiji and now it is a much more happier place culturally,” he said.
“When I had first arrived to set up the first resort here, there was a greater divide between the indigenous population and the Indo-Fijian community.
“Now, through the active efforts of this Government, that is not the case. Both races are cooperating and working together in a much more cordial relationship.
“I am not a political person, but previously, there was a lot of wrong being done here, which is being corrected under this Government.
“This is something that makes investing in Fiji even easier. We don’t have to worry about the racial divide.”