Relaunched Fiji and Portland Travel Sites
Two of my favorite tourism boards – Fiji’s and our own in Portland, relaunched their websites this week. They both look great. The Fiji Tourism Board features moving panoramas of nature scenes and easy-to-navigate drop down tabs for a variety of sections. This will be great for showcasing all the stunning scenery that exists among the 333 islands.
The Portland Tourism Board has done away with the official and bureaucratic-sounding “Portland Oregon Visitors Association (POVA)” in favor of the Travel Portland brand they’ve slowly been integrating the past few years. This site looks almost a little too clean, and the top navigation-only option is a little hard to find. But, I’m very impressed by their integration of local blogs’ RSS on the right hand side. Very web 2.0 of them – big kudos! Since they just launched, I’ll be patient with the fact those links don’t all work (aka, they default back to travelportland.com, which gets you nowhere) The logo is fun…a little whimsical, but then again, Portland is a little whimsical too…
All Inclusive Resorts
The idea of an all-inclusive resort sounds great – pay for everything up front at what seems to be a good deal, travel with very little petty cash and only be responsible for the tacky souvenirs you pick up along the way.
However, all inclusive meals different things to different people…or different countries. People usually think of the all-in-one resorts in the Caribbean that promise a room, food, alcohol, kid’s club and activities. Although that seems to include everything, that can also be misleading – what about the upper category rooms, or private nannies after hours, or alcohol that’s a step above what you drank in college? Those things might all cost a pretty penny more and are imporant to research before you book.
That being said, there are still a number of people who are looking for all inclusive resorts in many areas of the world. Because of that, we tracked down a number of all inclusive resorts in Tahiti and two other tropical locations.
In our Fiji all inclusive resorts article, we explain the differences between FAP, EP and MAP. These are different ways of distinguishing meal plans – usually the main focus of a resort that’s claiming to be ‘all-inclusive’.
Unfortunately, America’s tropical paradise has only one resort that includes meals. All inclusive resorts in Hawaii are limited to just the Kona Village.
Hibiscus Collection for Fiji Resorts
We recently launched the Fiji Hibiscus Collection, which includes showcase registries (aka, specialty items) for a number of resorts in Fiji. Each of these resorts have their own honeymoon registry, powered by TheBigDay.
Of the five resorts, I visited Sonaisali in October and caught a fleeting glimpse of Hideaway from the Queen’s Highway. Both resorts offer private bures with beachfront views and restaurants. At Sonaisali, we were dining on the beach when a downpour forced us to run inside. I loved the brief storm – in Portland, the rain mostly drizzles and whimpers, getting everything wet without really getting anything clean.
Also at Sonaisali, there is an excellent handicrafts shop with very reasonable prices. I picked up a woven bag for my sister for $30 FJ, which is $10 higher than what you can get on the street or through an independent vendor, but still not over the top.
