ONCE listed as the world’s
most expensive islands in 2006 by Forbes, the Vatuvara Private Island is revising their occupancy rate after the recent devastation caused by Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston.
The private resort offers ultra high-end luxurious surroundings for its very niche market. Occupancy rates for a night on one of their villas stands at US$12,000 (F$25,147.17). For the time being as the resort slowly return to normal operations, the occupancy rate has been halved to US$6000 (F$12,573.59) per night.
Assistant manager for the resort Krystel Gough says the substantial damage was mainly to their organic farms and their coconut trees on the island, which have practically been wiped out. However, this has not deterred the celebrities and millionaires who make up their clients from coming down to the secluded island.
“We’ve been so lucky that our structures were not that affected, and our usual clients have booked most of our villas. It’s good to note the support they have for the industry and most of them have come down with donations for the affected victims,” says Mrs Gough.
Located in Fiji’s pristine northern Lau waters on Kaibu Island, the secluded island is owned by Jim Jannard, the billionaire founder of Oakley and RED Digital Camera — a leading manufacturer of professional digital cinema cameras in the US.
