Is Fiji good value?

Tag Archives: Bruce Heilbuth

It’s not as cheap as it used to be. Back in 1987, after Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni (“Rambo”) Rabuka’s coup, when the flow of tourists dried up, desperate resort operators offered extraordinary deals.

An Australian newspaper colleague of mine took his wife and four kids for a few days’ holiday to one of Fiji’s 333 islands that year for around $1,000, including airfares.

That’s changed of course. Today Fiji doesn’t provide international MICE visitors with the same value for dollars as, say, Southeast Asia. They’ll pay AUD200 and upwards a night at a resort, and up to $2,000 for the swankiest options.

So why do visitor numbers to these islands keep growing? According to the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, arrivals for January 2014 totalled 47,551, a year-on-year increase of 3%.

The physical attributes are obviously a drawcard: the reefs, white beaches, nodding palms – and the beaming friendly locals. But you get the same just about everywhere in the South Pacific.

From a MICE visitor’s perspective it all depends how you define value, according to David Pearson, Director of Business Development at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa (left), a five-star holiday and conference complex at Natadola Bay on the main island of Viti Levu.

A major attraction in a time-poor era is that Fiji is only four hours flying time from the Australian east coast and two-and-a-half from Auckland. “It takes eight to nine hours to fly to Southeast Asia,” says David. “If you’re paying executives you’re saving time and money by coming to Fiji for event.”

Moreover you don’t have to travel long and far within the small country to have wonderful outer-island incentive experiences, and the genuine warmth of the Fijians makes a difference, over and beyond other destinations in the South Pacific, asserts David – himself a cheerful presence at the resort. (Though still in his late twenties, he has nine years’ experience in the InterContinental Hotels Group in Australia).

The F&B offering in Fiji has improved tenfold in the past five years, he adds. It was never renowned for being a culinary destination, but that’s changing too, in the quality of the produce, sourced locally, and in the recipes and food offerings gleaned from IHG properties round the world.

For budget-conscious MICE visitors, the January to March rainy season may be the best time to visit the 271-room InterContinental Fiji, with rates generally more competitive, starting from AUD 250 a day per person for accommodation depending on the type of rooms you book, says David. The service and facilities are outstanding, set in beautifully designed infrastructure and grounds, and IHG works hard to keep it that way. “The engineering team works continually to maintain the rooms and grounds in pristine quality,” he says. “The resort’s five years old and it retains a freshness, as you can see.”

“And even in the wet season rain typically comes in the afternoons, then clears, and the water temperature and quality of diving and fishing’s incredible all year round.”

The resort is 45 minutes from Nadi airport and set along one of the best beaches on the main island; its pillarless ballroom can handle up to 600 delegates. Plus there’s a championship golf course on site, with the Pacific as a backdrop on 15 of the 18 holes. An airy wedding chapel fronts a green lawn and the Pacific. A global IT company held a five-day inaugural incentive for its Asia Pacific sales team of 600 here recently, taking occupancy of the whole complex.

Tariffs notwithstanding, Fiji seems set to grow in importance as a meetings and incentive venue. Generous development incentives like depreciation allowances, tax rebates and easy repatriation of capital make it attractive for investors. (Though less attractive are the incentives for the local hotel staff, most of whom only get FJD4-5 an hour). And things are happening, development-wise. A $3.5 million investment by Sheraton, for instance, has resulted in the opening, just recently, of a convention centre with the capacity to hold about 1,200.

From AUD250 a night upwards

Rates for group bookings at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa start from AUD250 per day, and a recent summer special on the property’s website offered 30% off normal retail rates.

The Siteseer was a paying guest at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa.

David Pearson: "you’re saving time and money by coming to Fiji for event."

David Pearson: “you’re saving time and money by coming to Fiji for an event.”

By Derryn Heilbuth

Some years ago I was asked to write a piece for the Australian Financial Review’s “AFR Traveller”. For those who don’t know the format, it’s a brief Q&A where business travellers are asked to name their favourite hotel, restaurant and travel experience and provide travel tips.

For someone who travels a lot, on business in my own right, as an occasional travel writer and the spouse of The Siteseer, naming the hotel was the most difficult part of the assignment.

What hotel did I choose? Well, two actually, equally memorable but completely different. The first was The Mayflower Renaissance in Washington DC, a perfect setting for the global speechwriters’ conference I was attending. It was here that Franklin D Roosevelt worked on his “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” inaugural address.

The hotel, which will be 90 years old next year, was said to have had more gold leaf when it opened than any other US building except the Library of Congress. It was also a favourite of President Truman’s, who proclaimed it to be Washington DC’s second best address after the White House. Not surprisingly it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Historic Hotels of America.

He mobilised the language and sent it into battle

After the conference I stayed on for a couple of days to visit the city’s museums and the Library of Congress. It was hosting an exhibition of the manuscripts of Winston Churchill’s speeches, the workings of which were real evidence of how, as JFK put it when granting Churchill honorary American citizenship, he “mobilised the English language and sent it into battle”. Returning each night to the Mayflower, exhausted but happy, I was reminded why I love old style American hotels. No one does that understated lamplit elegance quite like the US of A.

My other favourite, the Peninsula Hotel in Bangkok, which I visited 14 years ago as a conference spouse, is a world away from the Mayflower. In those days, The Siteseer was Editor-in-Chief of Reader’s Digest. The Peninsula had recently opened and the Digest had managed to get a special deal for a meeting of its Australasian editors. It was my first visit to Southeast Asia and the hotel on the banks of the Chao Phraya River introduced me to everything I’ve come to appreciate about this part of the world: the delicate beauty of the orchids, the rich colours of the silks and textiles, the complex flavours of the food, the faultless taste you find in places like the Jim Thompson house or the hotel’s restored rice barges that ferried us across the river into central Bangkok and, most of all, the warmth of the Thais.

A useful reminder

My father-in-law was a newspaperman with printers’ ink in his veins and an almost childlike curiosity he never lost. A favourite saying of his was Shakespeare’s “To thine own self be true”. Authentic people, leadership, experiences are what we – increasingly – crave. In a world dominated by global brands and chains it’s a useful reminder that what travellers look for is difference not ubiquity. It’s certainly what the management of these two hotels remembered. Despite the fact that they are part of large groups, it’s why they stand out above the rest.

Leaving aside clichés about stunning vistas and vibrant cultural diversity, why should events organisers in Australia and elsewhere consider South Africa as a destination? Isn’t it, well, dangerous?

“Pure and simple, it’s a value-for-money destination,” says Yolanda Woeke-Jacobs, Director Sales & Marketing of destination management company Dragonfly. “You get great bang for your buck.”

Inside the Table Bay Hotel

Indeed you currently get 9.8 rands for an Australian buck, which means, for example, that a fillet steak at the swanky Harbour House restaurant at Cape Town’s Victoria and Albert waterfront will set Australian visitors back about $17. And that’s really top-end. At the very pleasant Peninsula Hotel restaurant in the same city, a main course will cost R60 to R80 (AUD 6-8). In most restaurants a bottle of excellent local red retails for $5 to $8.

As an incentive destination, South Africa is an obvious choice, Yolanda says, because the motivation factor is “huge . . . it’s on everyone’s bucket list.”

Yes, but what about security? Don’t South Africans often skirt, or fail to address, this issue, which genuinely worries many would-be MICE visitors?

Dragonfly’s message is you’ll be perfectly safe as long as you take basic precautions – just as you would if you visited, say, New York or Barcelona.

“Security’s a problem in any big city nowadays, so we recommend people be alert and not go into areas that are unsuitable for tourists, or after dark,” says Yolanda.

She and her colleagues never take guests into areas in which they’ll be in any peril. They host and look after thousands of visitors every year and have never had an incident, she says.

“Bear in mind tourism is one of our country’s biggest industries and sources of income, so we need to ensure tourists are looked after. We’ve been operating for over 30 years so we understand the destination, the culture and the Australian ‘MICE’ client’s expectations.”

$2,335 for a five-day package including Cape Town and Lost City

For AUD2,335 per person sharing, Dragonfly will set incentive visitors up for three nights at the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, and two nights at the Palace of the Lost City Hotel at Sun City, two-and-a-half hours’ drive from Johannesburg – both super-luxurious. (And there’s an option to extend the trip for a two-day visit to the Royal Livingstone Hotel at Victoria Falls.)

This package, one of many, includes transfers, cocktail functions, dinners and other meals with a specified drinks allowance, tours, safaris, meet-and-assists, gratuities and more. The rate is based on 40 participants sharing and is valid until 30 November 2014.

www.dragonfly.co.za

info@dragonfly.co.za

‘Palace of the Lost City’ room

“If you ask me, something sinister lurks in men who avoid wine . . . and dinnertime conversation. Such people are either gravely ill or secretly detest everyone around them.”

It was written by Russian novelist Mikhail Bulgakov in the 1920s. He had a point, some might think.

The Dockside Group, known for its slick waterfront events venues and restaurants in Sydney, understands that a gourmet meal without a glass of wine or two is a tragedy. Which is why it’s hosting a five-course degustation dinner at Sydney’s Italian Village restaurant (right at the harbour’s edge in The Rocks) on Wednesday June 25.

They’re pairing with the New South Wales Hunter Valley’s Margan Wines to present gourmet Australian cuisine matched with some of Margan’s best wines. Vigneron Andrew Margan (below), whose family first planted vines in the Hunter in the ‘60s, will share useful insights and his philosophy on winemaking. Here’s a sample of what guests can expect:

Half-shell scallop with pecorino and herb crumble, pork and duck roulette, Persian feta and eggplant involtini.

And those are just the canapés. To start there’s pressed pork, veal and chicken terrine with pickled vegetables, herb mayonnaise, served with a semillon. And confit ocean trout with avocado and wasabi mousse (chardonnay), and duck leg with cumin spiced lentil, roast root vegetable and jus (merlot and barbera). Sweets include “opulent opera slice,” gold leaf, vanilla macron, coffee anglaise, and chocolate shards, washed down with a botrytis semillon.

There’s room for 150 places only, and the all-in price is $130 a head. That’s great value for money for an incentive group, says Dockside Marketing Coordinator Christine Drivas.

“The dinner represents an exceptional-value night out with five courses prepared by our experienced chefs and paired with award-winning wines. It’ll also be educational and fun in fantastic surroundings.”

It’s the first time Dockside has put on a degustation dinner matched with local wines at Italian Village for the public, says Christine. “So it’s exciting for those who’ll have the opportunity to be there.”

AUD130 per person

Doors open at 7pm and dinner begins at 7.30. Tables are for 10 or 12 guests; for smaller reservations diners will be seated at communal tables.

For enquiries or bookings call 1300 115 116 or visit docksidegroup.com.au. Or to see more details and the menu, go here:

https://bookings.docksidegroup.com.au/events/degustation-dinner-at-italian-village.