President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau (left) cuts the ribbon which officially signified the re-opening of Treasure Island after one year of damage repairs because of Cyclone Evan. He is accompanied by the first lady, Adi Koila Nailatikau. Photo: RAEVENN BREEN
By RAEVENN BREEN
President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau was the guest of honor at the official re-opening of Treasure Island Resort in the Mamanucas yesterday.
This was after the resort had been shut down for almost a year because of damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Evan.
Ratu Epeli observed that looking around, it was almost impossible to imagine that just twelve short months ago, such was the damage by Cyclone Evan, that it forced Treasure Island Resort to close.
He said the resort was amongst many others in the Mamanuca Islands which had to completely shut operations and begin the lengthy task of rebuilding.
“What is in our control is our ability to show great strength in these moments of crises,” he said.
“Fiji’s tourism industry is our largest source of foreign exchange and a large provider for thousands of jobs for our people.
“From a micro-perspective, Treasure Island Resort has played a key-role in assisting the Fiji Government in achieving its objectives.”
Uniqueness
Ratu Epeli further said: “Treasure Island is very unique; it is the only significant resort in Fiji which is 50 per cent owned by the traditional land-owners.
“[These people] are to be commended for their invaluable contribution to Fiji’s tourism and for the role that they’ve played and will continue to play in helping the government with achieving its objectives.”
Recovery and future plans
Treasure Island Resort Limited Group general manager Scott Walton said that running the resort and rebuilding after damages has put a heavy cost burden on the shoulders of Treasure Island Resort Limited.
He also made note of the fact that despite the major setback after Cyclone Evan hit one year ago, the resort was ready to take on the challenge of the New Year with a wide variety of plans ahead.
“At $10 million, we’re still spending. A lot of that money was spent on repairing the infrastructure on the resort because of damage caused by TC Evan,” he said.
“We had to lay off 50 per cent of our 130-strong staff days after Cyclone Evan had hit, we just couldn’t keep them there.
“Most of them have returned to the Island to work and it just gives us a great morality boost.
“We’ve communicated very well to the market and we’re holding quite good occupancies at the moment and traditionally we’re expecting a very good occupancy level for the first few weeks of January.”
Mr Walton said one of the big things they wanted to do was improve the arrival experience for their resort guests with something a little bit different.
“We built a turtle-pond near the front desk for visitors to view, and even refurbished our restaurant and bar,” he said.
Resort on track
Chairman of Treasure Island Resort Limited Board, Bill Whiting, said despite the heavy costs of rebuilding which was endured by the company, the resort was well on track.
“12 months ago, Tropical Cyclone Evan was on a destructive path across Fiji,” Mr Whiting said.
“At this hour on this very day was almost directly overhead Treasure Island at over 200 km/hour for over four hours.
“There are still a few things to be done but we are back in business. We have plans to go beyond what you see today.”