| Vanuatu highlights BFTE winning best 2010 Booth Award |
 All pacific islands put on their best dress to showcase their destinations at the 15th Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange from 19th to 21st May in Fiji, and in the end, Vanuatu was the hot favourite for the Booth Award! Positive comments filled the air from delegates who met with Vanuatu sellers, applauding the group on the destination’s well signposted booths that stood out with a beautiful array of flags and rich colours lining the area in front of each booth, as well as the back walls. Booths sneak peaked three of Vanuatu Tourism’s new creative brand shots, complimented by the white Vanuatu islands logo on red background on either side of the banners. The colours projected the destination stunningly, and the result, Vanuatu winning Best Booth Award.
BFTE is a major showcasing event for Vanuatu and provides a platform for the Vanuatu Tourism Office and the Vanuatu tourism industry to make new business contacts and also update existing wholesalers on latest tourism developments. Vanuatu has its own smaller version of the BFTE, called TOK TOK Vanuatu, and this is where the industry meets mostly the wholesalers from its short haul market BFTE on the other hand is a useful avenue for Vanuatu to meet contacts from the long haul market.During the course of the event, the Vanuatu Tourism Office General Manager Ms Annie Niatu was an honorary guest of Fiji One TV as she was interviewed for her overall view and comments on BFTE. The Marketing Manager of VTO, Mr Sebastien Bador, presented to buyers information collaterals in a CD including fast facts and travel information on power point, accommodations and activities maps, 2010 Events Calendar, trade and media press releases, as well as Tok Tok 2010 Information sheet and Tok Tok Buyer Registration form. This year’s BFTE was staged at The Port Denarau, with 183 buyer companies from Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Fiji, Europe, USA, China, Korea, and other new and emerging markets, with approximately 200 seller companies spread throughout the Pacific. In total, the event saw over 500 delegates from around the globe meeting to gather information and showcase their properties and products. Vanuatu was represented by the Vanuatu Tourism Office, Air Vanuatu, Warwick Le Lagon Resort & Spa, Evergreen Limited, Espiritu Santo Tourism Association, Moorings Hotel, Iririki Resort & Spa and Grand Hotel & Casino, Poppy’s on the Lagoon & Friendly Bungalows. “The destination was certainly popular with many new wholesalers from Asia and Europe who are now looking to spread their options to idyllic, unique, and adventurous destinations rather than just repeatedly focusing on their main pacific gateway”, reports Mr Sebastien Bador. Other Pacific Countries present at BFTE, apart from the event organizer, were Solomon Islands, American Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, and Tonga. In August this year, from 24th to 27th, Vanuatu will host its own version of the event for overseas buyers who want to sell and promote Vanuatu to their clients. Tok Tok Vanuatu 2010 will be held at the Beachfront Resort from 24th- 25th, in Espiritu Santo, then at the Warwick Le Lagon Resort & Spa on 26th – 27th August, where the Tok Tok Village will be built on both of the resort’s deliciously lush landscape surrounded by tropical gardens. For more information on BFTE or Tok Tok Vanuatu contact VTO Office: Sebastien Bador marketing@vanuatu.travel , Annie Niatu manager@vanuatu.travel Phone the office on +678 22515. |