South Seas Cruises 24 December 2020 – In the lead-up to Christmas, South Sea Cruises including its subsidiary brands of Blue Lagoon Cruises, Awesome Adventures, and Vinaka Fiji wanted to share some joy and good tidings. The villages and communities of the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands largely rely on income from the international visitors who travel to the region aboard their various services.
With no international visitors since March, these villages and communities like a lot of Fiji have incurred a challenging year. In order to help these villages and communities, South Sea Cruises partnered with other leading industry operators in the Mamanuca and Yasawa Island’s in setting up and driving donations from former guests and customers to best assist.
The donations received by South Sea Cruises and our subsidiary brands have been substantial and allowed the company to provide some much-needed assistance in the form of over $20K worth of essential food and hygiene items. Earlier this week those donations allocated to the Yasawa region were delivered by staff and management of South Sea Cruises aboard their vessel, the Yasawa Flyer II. These donations will benefit more than 4,000 people across the region just in time for Christmas.
South Sea Cruises CEO Brad Rutherford said he was “humbled by their reception within the villages and communities of the Yasawa Islands earlier this week” He went onto state that “the Yasawa Islands are extremely important for our business and we’ve long supported the beautiful people of the region not only through the operation of our various tourism products but also through our not-for-profit organisation; Vinaka Fiji which sole aim is to improve the provision of basic needs and amenities within various Yasawa villages and communities as well as enhance and protect the natural environment through introducing and promoting sustainable practices.” South Sea Cruises would also like to acknowledge those companies who also donated additional items including Coca-Cola, Asaleo Care, P. Meghji, Yees Supermarket and Frezco Beverages. Also to Pacific Energy who sponsored 2000 litres of diesel fuel.
South Sea Cruises is operating a series of ‘love our local’ cruises to the region aboard Blue Lagoon Cruises over Christmas and into the New Year. These are the first tourism specific services returning to the Yasawa Islands since Fiji closed its borders in March. The local villages and communities are excited to be welcoming Blue Lagoon Cruises back and are looking forward to tourism services recommencing on a regular basis once Fiji’s borders reopen and it’s deemed safe to do so.
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
The Voice of the Industry
