Vanuatu Travel Expo to foster domestic tourism

The Vanuatu Tourism Office will hold the second Vanuatu Travel Expo at Warwick Le Lagon Resort on 29 August 2018.

The aim of the event is to bring the local Port Vila community to talk and meet with tourism operators from all over Vanuatu.

“We want to encourage our local community to get out and about and explore all that Vanuatu has to offer. We all know that Vanuatu is home to many wonderful experiences that are unique in the world, and we want to take this opportunity to encourage our own people to enjoy these very experiences, promoting domestic tourism within Vanuatu,” said Adela Issachar Aru, CEO of the Vanuatu Tourism Office.

The travel expo is a free event happening a day before Tok Tok Vanuatu bringing the largest number of Vanuatu Tourism operators, Sellers and Buyers, across both local and international regions.

“It would be a loss for the tourism industry to disregard a growing domestic market and so we will continue to add an additional day to our TOK TOK event to allow our local tourism operators to showcase their products directly to a market just sitting at the doorstep”. This market is a very important segment because it connects the market access opportunity for the local people, expatriate communities, government civil servants, non-profitable organisations and other stakeholders to pay a visit and see what accommodation operator and activities are available in the different islands of Vanuatu. This makes it easier for the domestic traveller to be able to prepare their booking and internal travels within Vanuatu. 

All 6 provincial tourism offices will be at the show ready to help the public understand how they can experience their special areas of Vanuatu, at a reasonable price fit for the domestic traveller.

Jimmy Kawiel, Tourism Business Officer of the Tafea Tourism Office and a representative of the Tanna Travel Call Centre, has confirmed his participation at the Vanuatu Travel Expo. 

Mr. Kawiel expresses, “Our team is excited about having this chance to help the domestic traveller plan their holidays to our southern islands to explore all that the Tafea has to offer. With upcoming sporting and cultural events in Tanna and the southern islands, we provide an excellent booking service and we can really help people understand what is available across the whole province”.

Timmy Rovu from Santo Heritage Tours expresses “Santo Heritage Tours can provide Port Vila residents, their families and friends, a perfect weekend getaway in Santo and the travel expo will help us get that message across”.

Ms Olivet Dorony, Manager of Torba Tourism Provincial office, will be representing operators of the northernmost province including Chez Maureen located in Gaua Island and winner for best Island

Bungalows in the 2017/2018 Bred Bank Vanuatu Tourism Awards for Excellence. It’s a great opportunity for Torba province to showcase their amazing bungalows and services for anyone travelling to experience an unwinding and adventure away from the busy hustle of Port Vila.

Mrs Aru is encouragingr School groups, government offices, humanitarian agencies and non for profit organisations to also visit the Travel expo on the 29th of August to view, ask questions and increase their knowledge on how much Vanuatu tourism is able to offer to our domestic travelers and to see how big the industry has grown over the years with more ni-Vanuatu operating and offering accommodation and activities services.

Some of the operators who will be present include Air Vanuatu, Angelfish Cove Villas, Black Pearl Resort, Blue Bay Resort & Restaurant, Entani Company Ltd, Espiritu Santo Tourism Association, Evergreen Ltd, Fatumaru Lodge, Grand Hotel & Casino, Hertz Car Rentals, Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu, Iririki Island Resort, The Vanuatu Bucket List, On Wheels Ltd, Ramada Resort Port Vila, Rockwater Resort, Santo Travel Centre, Shefa Tourism Office, Tamanu on the Beach Resort and Spa, Tanna Travel Center, plus many more.

The Tok Tok organizing committee acknowledges the Vanuatu Skills Partnership for the support in the travel expo as well as the Vanuatu Media Marketing for sponsoring the event’s upcoming publicities, and is inviting everyone in the Port Vila to come to Warwick Le Lagon Resort – Vanuatu on Wednesday 29th August, from 8am to 12pm to view what is on offer.

 

Photo supplied. Caption: Community volunteer engages with the local villagers of Rah Island during a traditional fishing festival on Rah.