Australian travel writers spread the word on Fiji’s bula spirit
RELEASE NUMBER 28/16
Danielle, Melanie, Donna, Debbie, Christine enjoying a cocktail at Vahavu.
Debbie, Melanie, Danielle, Christine breaking ground on the new community tourism project.
Hiking the Sigatoka Sand Dunes.
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – A group of Australian travel writers recently visited Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort to help spread the word that it’s business as usual on Fiji’s Coral Coast following February’s Tropical Cyclone Winston.
The itinerary also focused on the resort’s community involvement and commitment to improving the lives of the local people with a visit to Sigatoka District Hospital’s new maternity ward.
More than 600 babies a year are delivered in the ward, built with the help of a donation of more than FJD$1 million (USD$477,000) by Fiji’s Coral Coast Hotels Association driven by association chairman and general manger of Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort, Mr. Peter Hopgood.
The group – blogger and freelance travel writer Christine Retschlag; Melanie Gravis-Jones, editor of Our Planet Travel magazine; freelance writer Debbie Neilsen-Hunter; and freelance photographer and president of the Australian Society of Travel Writers, Danielle Lancaster – also visited Conua Primary School to be part of the official groundbreaking ceremony to launch the resort’s second community tourism project, the construction of a new kindergarten that will accommodate 30 children.
A Sigatoka River Safari tour included lunch at a traditional Fijian village and the group also experienced a hike through the Sigatoka National Park and Sand Dunes and Fiji’s only wildlife facility, Kula Echo Park.
Back at the resort we made sure our media guests had time to enjoy a cocktail at the resorts adult-only Vahavu Pool and a soothing massage at Bebe Spa Sanctuary.
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