THE Rosie Travel Group has launched its Vualiku initiative in alignment with the Government’s Vualiku tourism development plan for Vanua Levu.
Rosie Vualiku represents a pioneering initiative for the North, collaborating with recognised community-based tourism operators to nurture, train, and develop their potential to complement the growing base of adventure tourism experiences that will also bring economic empowerment of these local communities.
In its initial phase, seven communities in conjunction with their ground partner, Muanivatu Trails have entered into this mentorship agreement to deliver a unique range of adventure experiences that promote the rich diversity of culture, environment and arts from across these communities.
The signing and launch ceremony held at the Vuadomo Village on Monday was attended by all seven communities from across the Cakaudrove Province along with representatives from Tourism Fiji, the Savusavu Tourism Association and businesses.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Rosie Travel Group general manager, Eroni Puamau said it was not only a very special milestone for the group in establishing its presence for the first time in the North, but it was also significant in their manner of entry which is to come through the community pathway to nurture, empower, and elevating local resource owners into operating their own tourism businesses supported through Rosies global network.
“Fifty years ago, a young lady named Rosie had the same dream that many of you see in tourism today,” he said.
“Our vision from her legacy is to continue supporting as many of our communities to help enable your dreams become a reality by sharing our knowledge, our learning, our infrastructure and our resources to keep transforming our industry beyond limits known.
“And our goal is to continue this development across the entire North Island”.
Signing the agreement on behalf of the communities was the managing director of Muanivatu Trails, Epeli Asaro and representatives from the communities.
“This is a historic moment in time for our vanua and our people,” Mr Asaro said.
“Long have we dreamt of the time when we would get to develop our tourism potential and today we start our journey with gratitude and excitement for what this will bring for our people,” he said.
“This partnership with Rosie Vualiku is based on our shared values and vision in shaping our development with mutual respect and we look forward to the journey ahead in what it will bring with the learning, development and shared prosperity from growing the tourism economy for the vanua.”
The Rosie Vualiku Initiative will deliver the following:
- Detailed assessment of identified community tourism experiences.
- Timelines for enabling experiences to be market ready.
- Provide training and learning infrastructure to be market ready.
- Digital e-commerce activation tools to enable online transactions via the Rosie portal.
- Access to the Rosie global B2B/B2C tourism distribution platform.
- Access to ongoing monitoring, training and technical support.
Note: This article was first published on the print version of the Fiji Times dated June 12, 2025
