News

The Royal Caribbean Group has announced plans to launch “Pay It Forward,” a second phase of its RCL CARES program, to support its travel advisors as they look to rebuild their businesses after a challenging 2020. The program makes a $40 million pool of funds available to qualifying travel advisors, who can apply for […]

This year’s final Pacific Business Monitor, a monthly survey tracking the effects of COVID-19 on businesses in the Pacific region by the Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) global network, highlights the persistent and severe effects the pandemic has had on businesses in Vanuatu and the Pacific throughout 2020. Across eight months […]

The Community Attitudes Towards Tourism Survey is now open.  Last week the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation supported by the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute based at the Auckland University of Technology, have launched their community survey for 2020.  The survey gives the host community in the Cook Islands, the opportunity […]

Bula Vinaka  Everyone, Yesterday marked my last day at Tourism Fiji. It has been my honour and pleasure to serve Fiji, which has also been home to my family for the last 4.5 years.   In this time, I have seen the destination achieve many remarkable accomplishments. This has been possible through a strong partnership between Tourism Fiji and the tourism industry. I’m so grateful for this support, and know you will provide the same support to Robert Thompson as […]

Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) Australia says businesses in Fiji have shown immense resilience in what has been exceptionally trying times. PTI Australia Trade Commissioner Caleb Jarvis says their research shows that while extent and severity of negative COVID-19 impacts have remained high in Fiji, confidence in business survival has risen […]

Fiji will close its borders to all incoming passenger flights from Thursday until next Monday. The health ministry said it will use that time to review border quarantine processes after a new variant of Covid-19 was discovered in the UK. More than 40 countries have now banned arrivals from Britain […]

Air New Zealand has begun the process of recalling all of its Airbus A320 cabin crew from furlough as the airline begins preparations for quarantine-free travel to Australia and Rarotonga in early 2021. The 175 cabin crew members have been on furlough since June, having chosen to stay connected to […]

The Samoa government has launched two plans to upgrade the coastal marine environment’s ecological resilience to withstand the impact of climate change. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said the two plans include the villages of Poutasi, Vaovai and Lotopu’e-Malaela. The aims are of the initiative by the communities […]

The last group of travellers in quarantine in Samoa will be released this week according to the National Emergency Operations Center. Chairman of the Center, Agafili Shem Leo, said more than 160 passengers from flights from New Zealand and Fiji on December 7 would need to have two negative final […]

Palau health officials said they are on track to conduct its first Covid-19 vaccination by January and according to the Center for Disease Control website ,the nation will get its Moderna allocation, simultaneous with Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) this week. The US […]

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Inspiration for high fashion can come from strange places. For one Taiwanese designer, it’s upcycling old wires and bolts from the power industry. Wang Li-ling, 36, scours dumps, picking up old bits of metal and wires from Taiwan’s main electricity supplier to add extra flair to her […]

With COVID-19 vaccine distribution now in its early stages, early steps toward the resumption of labour migration in the Pacific region underway, and hopes for an international travel ‘bubble’ between Australia and New Zealand, questions are now arising as to what additional measures will be needed before international tourism returns […]

(Reuters) – Apple Inc has temporarily shut all of its 53 stores in California because of a coronavirus outbreak and 16 stores in the United Kingdom following restrictions introduced by the government in London, a spokesman said on Saturday. The company said on Friday it was temporarily shutting some stores […]

Looking for an adventure or activities to do during the holidays? Rivers Fiji is an award-winning tour operator backed with more than 40 years of experience in whitewater rafting and adventure travel. With Rivers Fiji you can raft the incomparable Upper Navua Gorge or inflatable kayak on the Luva River […]

Dancing and feasting presided over Kioa in Cakaudrove as its people, now scattered around the Fiji group, converged at their island home on October this year to mark Kioa Day. The celebrations, which fall on Monday, October 26, marks the arrival of the Kioan Islanders from their original home in the village of Vaitupu on the then […]

For most of us, 2020 has been a year we’d rather put behind us, but Monday brings the chance for something really worth remembering because it hasn’t been seen in almost 800 years. For the first time since the Middle Ages, we’ll be able to see ******* and ****** align […]

European countries began to close their doors to travellers from the United Kingdom on Sunday, with several banning planes and trains over concerns about a new coronavirus strain that is spreading quickly through the country. Belgium said it would close its borders to flights and trains – including the popular […]

Air Vanuatu’s ATR72-600 aircraft will finally recommence service tomorrow. The ATR returned on December 4 after nine months undergoing maintenance in Cairns, Australia. The two flights from Port Vila to Tanna tomorrow, Sunday 20th December 2020, are fully booked, and two return flights, from Tanna to Vila, on the same […]

RNZ Pacific staff share their Christmas memories and traditions. The best memories of Christmas food for me was growing up in Munda in the Western Solomons and it was all about the process. I remember as a very little person helping, (more like getting in the way of), my great, […]

Covid-19 vaccinations begin in the Northern Mariana Islands this weekend, but it’s not yet clear when other Pacific countries will have access to a vaccine. The Northern Marianas, which is a US territory, was expecting 5,000 doses of the The Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to arrive during the week, and vaccinations […]