By JOSEPHINE NAVULA
The Hawaii based Outrigger Enterprises Group was in the country on familiarization tour with the resort and was amazed by the reception from the management and staff at the Outrigger on the Lagoon, Fiji.
Public Relations Director, Nancy Daniels said the experience was beyond her expectations.
“The property is absolutely gorgeous but it’s the people, the staff, they are so genuinely warm and friendly and they really make the experience. They truly do,” she said.
A team of seven toured the resort to experience firsthand the premium products the Outrigger on the Lagoon, the country offers. This is all in a bid to increase sales in the North American markets, namely the US and Canada.
Daniels said their trip was mainly to familiarize themselves with the Fiji product.
“We’re trying to assist in growing our North American sales to Fiji. And coming here to experience it firsthand really helps us to talk about the property in earnest with conviction. It was a beautiful stay and now I’ll be able to go off and talk about Fiji and really paint the picture, for me, for the media with my public relations,” she said.
Daniels said believes there is a lot of room for growth in the North American market.
“Certainly, with the Air Pacific changes coming up and the new direct flights from Los Angeles and Hawaii, certainly I think we will see the (tourist) numbers grow,” she said.
Outrigger Enterprises Group Vice President of Distribution Lois Shore said the growth in the North American market looks promising.
“We’ve just finished phase one of our marketing plan and the numbers have increased from 3.2% to 4.4% in the first two months and we’re very excited about that trend. We need to push it a little further and we need to focus primarily on couples and romance markets because of the distance from the US to here,” she said.
Outrigger on the Lagoon ∙ Fiji General Manager Peter Hopgood was all smiles with the responses from the group.
“We look forward to an increase in our guests from the North American market. The visit by the Outrigger Enterprises Group should guarantee us more marketing and visitors to our shores from the US and Canada and with the added bonus of the new Fiji Airways A330s, we will be seeing more exciting times at our resort”, Hopgood added.
The Hawaii-based Outrigger Enterprises Group is one of the largest, fastest growing, privately-held hospitality companies in the Asia Pacific region with 45 properties and close to 11,000 rooms currently under management or development.