The Fiji International team has started preparing for the return of Fiji’s biggest professional golf tournament at Natadola Bay Championship Course from October 15th – 18th 2015.
After concluding ten days of meetings with sponsors, suppliers and stakeholders to the event, the Fiji International team is confident this year will be bigger and better.
“In 2014, we focused on establishing the foundations of the Fiji International, ensuring we had a strong platform to propel Fiji as a great golf destination to the world. This year, with more lead time, we are focusing on ensuring a strong return on investment for our partners, including boosting in-bound golf tourism”, said Natalie Ritter, General Manager of the Fiji International.
The Fiji International team invited potential sellers of golf in Fiji to a luncheon to share their ideas of how local tour operators could use the event to their advantage.
“One of the strategies we have is to encourage our local tour operators to include opportunities to watch and experience the Fiji International into their golf packages and promote this internationally to the lucrative golf tourism market of the world.
We are further enhancing this by becoming a member of the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO) whereby all the golf specific golf tour operators of the world will be gathering in Jakarta for the Asian Golf Tourism Convention this April. We hope to be able to promote our local tour operator packages to these strategic buyers of golf and reap the reward of more in bound golf tourists to Fiji over the coming years.” added Natalie who represents PGA Australia.
Feedback from local tour operators on how the event can grow their business was positive with Eroni Puamau, General Manager of Rosie Holidays seeing increased bookings from Chinese Golfers following the broadcast of the Fiji International in 2014.
“We had a group of 20 golfers book with us immediately after seeing the Fiji International aired in China and the beauty of Natadola. The Fiji International is a great platform to show the world that we too are a golf destination to be considered for their next golfing holiday. We see the potential in tapping into the golf market and look forward to working with the Fiji International team in boosting golf tourism for the country.” said Eroni.