Travel the Pacific with SPASIFIK

December 7th 2009
Having a guilt-free Samoan holiday
The message is Samoa is open for business. Post-tsunami, the Pacific paradise has a damaged southern coastline, battered bank account and a fragile collective spirit but the people are powering on and they want tourists back on their sunny shores.

December 4th 2009
Travel guide rates American Samoa’s Ofu beach as best undiscovered beach
Ofu beach on the island of Ofu in American Samoa, has been rated by a travel guide, Photos4Travel as the best undiscovered beach in the world.

October 22nd 2009
Niue government looks at a number of tourism initiatives
Taking tenders for a casino licence is one of the initiatives Niue’s government is proposing, following a New Zealand-government commissioned report on the island’s tourism industry.

October 12th 2009
To Tonga, to Tonga for a whale encounter
So what does the Kingdom of Tonga have that other similarly placed South Pacific countries don’t? Apart from the obvious answer that they still have a ruling monarch, the answer to this question for a growing number of tourists lies out to sea.

October 5th 2009
Nature and nurture in New Zealand
Windy Potatoes gazed up at the God of the Forest, who loomed back at him disconcertingly. The God was tall, towering 51 metres upwards. The God was wide, at almost 14 metres in girth. The God was also very, very ancient – perhaps as much as 2,000 years old – yet, thankfully, the God was still in excellent health.

September 28th 2009
Changing French-Pacific tourism
The islands in the French Pacific might be promoted as paradise on earth, but not enough people want to experience that particular slice of heaven. Dr Anne-Marie d’Hauteserre from the Geography, Tourism and Environmental Planning Department at Waikato University says tourism in the region needs a revamp.

September 14th 2009
Polynesian isle Cook found still 'undiscovered'
Captain James Cook, the great explorer of the Pacific, was the first European to "discover" Raiatea when he anchored the Endeavour in the lagoon at Opoa in July 1769. Ironically, it's the fact that it is pretty well "undiscovered" by the west today that gives this lush island its charm.