Latest / GowayPro Travel Tales / Samoa – the forgotten “Jewel” of the Pacific

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Samoa – the forgotten “Jewel” of the Pacific · GowayPro Travel Tales

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Samoa, the forgotten jewel of the Pacific.
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Tucked in the heart of the South Pacific, Samoa is the kind of destination where nature feels untouched by hurry, where culture breathes with quiet pride and where every sunrise
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feels like the beginning of something new.
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Samoa's beauty is unapologetically bold.
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The coastline unfills with white sand beaches kissed by turquoise lagoons.
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Inland waterfalls tumble from jungle covered cliffs that Faha Samoa
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or Samoan Way surrounds you at every step.
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Hey there everyone, I'm Don, Professor Goaay, and welcome to the GoaayPro Travel Tale Podcast.
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uh
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Travel far and travel often.
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Hey there everyone.
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Thank you very much for joining us today for the Go A Pro Travel Tales podcast series.
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I've actually been away for about a month traveling to Africa and that's not what we're talking about today.
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We are going to talk about Samoa, a little island or chain of islands, if I'm correct.
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And I'll confirm that with Losa, our guest in a minute in the Pacific islands chain group.
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um
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often overlooked by many people, Australians going to that area of the world, which is their playground as the Caribbean is for North Americans.
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So we're here today to discover all there is to know about Samoa and joining us is Lhasa Walwork from the Tourism Board of Samoa.
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She's head of sales and marketing.
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Welcome Lhasa, how are you today?
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Salofa Don, Mr.
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Don.
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thank you for having me on board.
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And Salofa from Samoa.
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It's a beautiful sunny day at Samoa.
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And all as well as we prepare for our Independence Day celebrations next week.
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Yeah, you just mentioned that before we came on air, so to speak, that where loss is sitting, she's saying there was some noise.
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didn't hear it, but about two minutes later, we heard a marching band go by her window and she informed me that it's the police marching band and Monday to Friday, they march from
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the police station down to the town hall.
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think you said, that correct?
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no, sorry.
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Down to government house where they raise the flag.
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So that's done every day, regardless whether it's independent.
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That's when it's not an independent state.
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But usually from Monday to Friday, every morning we have the Samoa Royal Police Band marching for flag racing.
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lovely.
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Now also joining us though, she's having bit of internet trouble at the moment will be Meg Boyd, our product manager for the South Pacific.
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And Meg just recently visited Samoa, so we want to get her input em from a traveler's point of view.
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uh She's trying to log on.
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If she can, she'll join us.
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If not, we can catch up with her another time.
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As always, before we get into the Q &A of our subject matter today, we always like to get to know a little bit about our guests.
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Lhosa, can you tell us
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a little bit about yourself.
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gather you are Samoan born and bred, but how you got into tourism, how you found yourself in the role that you have now representing Samoa to the world.
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Okay, thank you, Professor.
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That's an interesting question.
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I used to work in the private industry with selling food for over 20 years.
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And then I joined the Samoa Tourism Authority two years in 2023 on July.
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And it's been very, and it's been an exciting experiences trying and learning experiences, understanding our local industry as well as
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you know, and Samoa as a whole, you know, we have, I didn't understand how many, how many landmarks and sites and attractions that Samoa has, all these unique experiences that you
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can, that we offer.
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And so it's, it's a privilege to be part of that, to be able to showcase that to the global market.
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So I am.
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And as I inferred in my question, are, yeah, there you go.
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Yeah, that was my question.
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You are from Samoa.
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You are Samoan born.
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at Samoa Tourism.
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I have a team, 14 um staff that looks, that are responsible for promoting and marketing Samoa at our source key markets.
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So our primary markets is Australia, New Zealand, and our key long-haul markets is North America, UK, Europe, and China.
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So North America market is one of our main markets that we were looking forward to.
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uh
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working with and promoting and attracting more visitors.
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And we'll get into some of the logistics for North American travelers getting to Samoa.
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A couple of interesting facts now, it's four o'clock in the afternoon here in Toronto where I'm recording this with Lhosa and she mentioned it's a good morning.
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So it's first thing in the morning.
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Some interesting facts.
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Samoa is the first country in the world to see the new day.
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So I am talking to Lhosa in the future.
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It's what does it say?
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Wednesday here.
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So it's Thursday where she is.
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And I also believe that Samoa
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does not have any dangerous snakes or spiders, is that true?
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correct.
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Someone's very safe.
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oh
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very good.
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Oh, and Meg's just joined us.
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She's looking much clearer in her video feed and hopefully we can hear it clearly as well.
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So Meg, we've already begun.
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Hey, there we go.
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We've already begun.
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made an introduction for you that you would be joining us shortly.
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So we will loop you into our conversation as we get going.
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I was just touching on some of the interesting facts about SMOA, one being it's the
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first country in the world to see the new day, no snakes or spiders, which is cool if you don't like creepy crawlies.
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And I understand also that more Samoans live outside the country than inside the country.
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That's correct.
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There's over 200,000 Samoans living on the island and over 200,000 Samoans living just in New Zealand alone.
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It's over 100,000 and that it just gets and as well in Australia.
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Right, I assume there's quite a tight connection, both culturally and economically between Samoa and New Zealand.
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We have a very strong bilateral relationship with the government.
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We are one of the partners that support the tourism sector.
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Right.
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So Meg, as we're to bounce around here a bit as well.
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So from a country combination point of view, Samoa would be a good add-on or in reverse, New Zealand would be a good add-on to Samoa.
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So those two countries together would be a popular country combo?
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cities and especially with the air connection from North America.
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So you've got Air New Zealand flights into Auckland and then really easy connections across to Samoa.
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And while we're on that topic, Fiji Airways as well.
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So you can fly down to Nandi from North America, both Canada and the USA and connect really easily over to up here, just under two hour flight.
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And you can also combine it with Australia as well.
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So there's non-stop flights as well from not every city, but cities in Australia across to Samoa as well.
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So they're all good combinations here.
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Yeah, as I mentioned to our listeners earlier, before you joined us that the South Pacific, the islands, Fiji, Cooks, Tahiti, Fiji, et cetera, are the playgrounds for
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Australians and Kiwis.
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So to your point, there's lots of direct lift from Australia and New Zealand.
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So you mentioned going via Fiji or via New Zealand.
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Can you fly directly from North America into Stimala?
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You cannot, no.
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Okay.
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So that means if anyone's looking to get there from the US or Canada, you need to look at one of those other destinations.
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again, automatically that brings into your conversation with your destination specialist, a country combo um option as well, two or maybe even three, Australia, New Zealand and
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Samoa, of course.
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Also, I understand that Samoa was once referred to as Western Samoa.
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Is there a reason for that?
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So Samoa was, there are two Samoans.
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The other Samoa was under the American territory, it's part of the American territory and it's now known as the American Samoa.
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And that's the Eastern Samoans.
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Eastern Samoa Islands, the Western Samoa Islands were, what's the word?
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were under the New Zealand territory and then we became independence on and
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in 1962.
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And now we're on the independent state of
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independent potatoes to mower.
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Okay, so um we've discussed how to get there.
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We jumped ahead on our question.
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We did forget one option, Fiji always also have a connection from Honolulu weekly as well.
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That's right.
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So oh I'll show you bit ways.
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But you can fly through any Zealand via Oakland, BG Airways via Nandi or direct from Honolulu or Qantas and Qantas or Virgin Airways via Brisbane.
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Okay.
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So that's a good one for our North Americans.
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Cause we do have a lot of people, obviously most people on the contingent, um, U S and Canada always look at Hawaii as a destination unto itself.
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So you get, there's another combination you could do Hawaii and Samoa, but there is obviously a lot of Americans living in Hawaii who are looking beyond their home turf for a
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Pacific getaway.
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that's good to know straight from Honolulu.
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Um, Meg.
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You mentioned RPS, so that I assume is the main gateway in and what's the airport code for RPS please?
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APW.
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EPW there or agents out there who need to look it up.
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GoAE can help you with your air because we're also an air consult data as well if you want to get people into the service.
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I was actually talking to one of our specialists this morning who's just finalizing a one month booking and they're doing Cook Islands, Tahiti, Samoa and Tonga.
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any combo really is an um option.
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And again, as I mentioned, we're not air holes, so we can handle what we would term complicated or complex air in regards to getting people around the Pacific, obviously with
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the goal of getting you in to Samoa.
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I did mention also in the beginning of my introduction, I said Samoa, the island, but I then corrected myself, the island chain.
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So excluding American Samoa, how many islands are there within the chain of Samoa?
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The two largest and most populated islands are Kowloon, which is the capital of Ria, and Sabah Island, which is known as the Big Island.
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These two islands are connected by a bridge.
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By ferry, okay.
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So either Loss or Meg, when you go to Samoa, are you looking at just really spending your time on one island or would you be mixing your time between two islands or the two islands
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that you mentioned?
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highly recommend visiting both islands.
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Both islands have many attraction sites.
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But with the Savaii Island, if you're looking at the authentic culture that Samoa was 20 years ago, you'll find all that live and practiced daily in Savaii.
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So we really recommend both islands to have that overall 360-degree
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the overall Samoa immersion.
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enough.
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Meg, how many days do we package or recommend for someone to experience Samoa?
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Do we package or recommend for someone to experience Samoa?
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It really can vary depending on the air access.
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If somebody wants to a little stopover, you wouldn't want to do anything less than on route somewhere.
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That's a hard question, Dawn.
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I would say really to do it justice, you'd want to do at least five nights to give you the option to visit both islands.
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But if you've only got a couple of nights, you could fly into Arpea and do at least three nights to give you two full days.
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But I would...
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Honestly, if you're going to do it, would say I would try to go at least five if you can, four or five at a minimum.
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Right.
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Now you were just there on a, on a fam, correct?
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And if so, uh how, how long was the fam built around?
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How many, was it the five night thing you're referring to?
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We were away for just over a week.
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It was about nine days altogether and that did include a two-day trade show and I felt like the five days touring that we had did give us a really good overview.
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Saying that though, that didn't really include sort of any downtime.
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So if you want to just, you know, a couple of days to just, you know, sit at your resort, lie on the beach, have a spa, you know, those extra days would give you that little bit
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more leisure time.
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OK, so loss of because a lot of people.
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Yeah, exactly what I said.
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I feel like if you really want to enjoy some more at a relaxed pace, we highly recommend a 70 days itinerary.
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Okay.
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Okay.
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So for those out there who will be listening to this podcast for information on Samoa, because it's new to them.
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And again, I think there'll be a vast majority of our agents because they will be better versed on your big brothers and sisters being Fiji and Tahiti in particular.
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um How would you position Los Samoa compared to Fiji and or Tahiti?
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Is it less expensive?
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Is it more cultural?
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uh
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Is it easy to get around like any of those things that would draw someone away from the more well-known Pacific islands?
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Right.
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Well, Samoa is less commercialized and just more culturally reserved than our peers.
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We are rooted in Samoa and it's a living traditional culture that just emphasizes our community, our ceremony and our respects.
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If you're looking for something that's un-crowded, has the natural landscapes, the high-value packages and
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deep cultural emergence at competitive prices, Samoa is ideal for you.
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It's Samoa's best enjoyed as a standalone destination.
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We have enough depth in cultural, nature, wellness, and adventure experiences for uh full itineraries.
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Okay.
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So most people will automatically um think of the Pacific islands as places to rest and relax, as well as the wellness and adventure, of course, and the culture, which we'll
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discuss in a minute.
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does Samoa match it, and this is for either of you, Meghul Lhosa, does Samoa match it when it comes to the resort options that you would get in Fiji and Tahiti in particular, or is
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it again, more sort of rustic in its offerings?
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when it comes to accommodation.
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accommodation.
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We have a wide range of accommodations.
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We offer unique experiences and an open beach, open traditional fallow at the sea, which we call Beach Fallows, to the air-conditioned villas at the resorts and hotel rooms.
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So there's a whole range of accommodation.
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International brands and locally run properties can offer options for all budgets.
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Okay.
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So basically when people, be it agents or their clients approach them and they say, has Samoa got what Fiji and Tahiti can offer?
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The simple answer is yes, they can.
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That's right.
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We have deluxe accommodation.
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have superior standard right up right to the beach bars.
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And I guess what's nice too is a lot of the resorts are a lot smaller.
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know, like you can get some, know, some of these hotels in, you know, Fiji, you know, and the bigger resorts can have, you 300 rooms.
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Samoa is not like that.
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It's a lot more personal.
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And, you know, quite often you are spending more time with the staff.
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You're getting to know the staff a little bit more.
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I would have to say, I mean, Samoa doesn't have...
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Comparing it to Tahiti, Tahiti has many, many, many resorts with many, many overwater bungalows.
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That's probably the main difference.
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Samoa does have overwater faules.
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I was lucky enough to stay in one at a property called Coconuts and it was gorgeous.
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But that is, that's probably the only big difference I would say.
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Okay.
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Well, that's that to me personally sounds like a positive difference in that it's and again, something low.
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Yeah, no, I was recently at a resort in Fiji and they could do a thousand covers for breakfast in the morning.
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It was chaos, you know, and you just don't get that in Samoa.
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It's a lot more peaceful and laid back and relaxed.
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And it's a lot of value added because $1 US is $2.18 and the range for our deluxe hotels is $400.
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So that's convert that that's $200.
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Yes, so it's very competitive, very affordable.
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Okay.
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So in general terms, and again, I know there are exceptions to every general statement, but you could look at Samoa when you're comparing or if an agent is asked this question
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that it is uh smaller in a positive way, less commercialized, less touristed and very, very affordable for what you get and what you can get is equal to the other islands.
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set.
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Okay, well that's a big plus, particularly for our agents out there looking to sell the Pacific and looking for people who in this day and age, everyone's very budget conscious.
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So that's an easy one to direct people to.
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So we just discussed accommodation is on par with everything else.
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So we've just discussed how the accommodation is on par and equal to, and if not better in some circumstances to the other islands in the Pacific.
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Samoa is part of the Polynesian family, culturally.
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So when someone's looking to go down there, would they find a huge cultural difference in some of us, some of the neighboring island chains?
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Yes, very much so.
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We have a real live gacha for a culture.
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uh We will see that, you know, the day you arrive, as you drive to Appiah City from the airport, you will experience all the villages and the villages, uh you'll be able to see
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them uh engage in traditional practices, uh watch them in their ceremony experiences with the Matai chiefs, which is the chiefs that
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look after the different villages, are able to experience that and see that you're engaged in adult cultural tours where you do traditional tattooing, weaving, engage in traditional
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preparation of food where we wrap our organic food with taro leaves and grapefruit leaves and you would be able to engage, participate in a umu demonstration which is an
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oven, earth oven cooking method where we heat up the rocks, put our local produce there and our fresh seafood and then bake it after one hour.
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It's beautiful.
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It's fresh.
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It's amazing.
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you know, all this you're able to experience.
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Our fifth year nights is a very popular highlight.
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It's available at all of our deluxe hotels where the visitors can enjoy dancing and feast on local food and watch cultural performances such as our Steve Asahamua and our fire
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dancing.
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and all meet the village, meet the locals, go to a village, have them meet the locals, see how they live and how they feel.
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watch how they cook their food and that so and and their ceremonies all this is available to our visitors.
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Sorry, sorry.
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So Meg, if someone's looking at Samoa as a destination, would they be, well, not, shouldn't ask.
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Let me rephrase that.
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When a client comes to a travel agent, one of our partners and says, Hey, I'm considering Samoa.
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um is it, do we pitch it as this is a place like basically a flop and drop or it's an adventure thing.
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It's a culture thing.
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That sounds very, very cultural.
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Lossa just mentioned to us.
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So to me, it would be, um,
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an active destination as well as offering the opportunities to flop and drop.
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Is that fair?
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That's how I would position it too.
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It's definitely more than just you know go and lie on the beach for for 10 days.
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There is a lot of beautiful natural scenery to see but it's also not It's you don't need to be you know, you're not climbing up mountains or you know or anything like that So it's
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it's accessible.
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So it's and it's accessible Beautiful scenery.
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Yeah with the up with the option to you know spend a bit of time in a spa and get a massage and spend some time on the beach, but um
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It's not man-made attractions, know, it's all nature.
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The scenery was beautiful.
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And it's interesting too, just talking about culture, we found pretty much everywhere we stayed, we found the locals were actually coming up and actually asking us where are we
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from, why are we visiting?
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We found everyone really, really engaging, um I guess, know, and Lothar will probably agree, you know.
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some of the biggest travellers in Samoa are actually Samoans.
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So the resorts are full of local people, maybe people that have moved overseas and are coming home to visit friends and relatives and families.
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Really friendly, really curious.
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And we chatted to a lot of people.
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Yeah, it was really friendly.
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Yeah, I think this, like the more you ladies are explaining to me, the more it sounds like it's a plus that it is not one of the big islands, the famous islands, because it's been
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overlooked for so long that it still retains that old world quality and it's quieter and people are more open to the travelers and the tourism, the globe trotters coming through.
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So it sounds like for me anyway, destination I'd definitely love to see.
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Now we mentioned the two big islands and they're connectable with ferries.
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Each of these islands, when you're there Losa and you're getting around to explore the nature or visit a local community, how do people get around?
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it buses, private transfers?
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Is there any inter-island air or is it all of the above?
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Well, all of the above actually we have like you mentioned I mentioned is an inter-islay ferry between Polo and Hawaii.
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We have our local buses which are very colorful and low cost and cash only taxis and car rentals available.
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We really highly recommend self driving because it's easy to drive around and it's safe and it's a scenic drive and it's also easy to obtain a temporary license.
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At our airport booth, upon arrival, you'll be able to obtain a temporary license.
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Or when you're in town and up here, just come to our information file and you're able to get that temporary license.
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So if you rent a car you need to have the temporary license you just can't rent it on a US or Canadian driver's license?
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You did.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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Well, asking it.
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So if, if someone is looking to self drive around Samoa, you mentioned a temporary license.
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So they need that, um, to hire the car or, I guess in other words, often, like when I was in the Cook Islands, I could hire the car, use my Canadian license.
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That's not the case for Samoa.
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need this temporary license.
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Yes, you do.
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Well, for New Zealanders and Australians, and I need to check with Canadians, but in New Zealand and Australia, they can use their license for 30 days.
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But for majority of visitors, you can obtain a temporary license.
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Is there a cost for that temporary life?
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It's 10 Tala Samo Tala.
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And so that will be only $5 less.
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Okay, no problem with that.
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Lois is correct.
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What I took away too is the villages, they're so well maintained and manicured.
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And we were told that it was almost like a competition between villages as to um how pretty they are.
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I don't know if you can insert videos in the podcast, but I took some inside our vehicle.
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The villages are gorgeous.
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The gardens and it's like nothing else I've seen in the South Pacific.
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It's very beautiful scenic driving.
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And that's so true.
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We actually have a natural beautification program and it's an inter-village competition on how to maintain our land.
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It keeps on more beautiful, keep it clean.
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So that is an active program that we run annually and it's every, when we have our Te Wila festival in September and that's when we announce the winners for each villages.
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okay.
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Okay.
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And that's, that's impressive because the South Pacific islands just on their own are gorgeous without adding to that.
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if you, you know, if there's a moment to taking it up a level, I can only imagine.
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I will, for anyone watching our video podcast, I'll overlay some of the video that Meg just mentioned of her when she was there.
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So we've touched on some of the accommodation choices.
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One of the main things to see and do now, you you both generalize in your beautiful scenery, this type of cultural experiences.
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there any specific things that people should do when they're in Samoa?
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Well, there's so many things, but I'll just mention some main ones.
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So you can go at Tosua Trench, Ocean Trench, which is a stunning 30 meter natural swimming hole.
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And this was formed by a collapsed lava tube.
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It features clear turquoise waters and it's accessible by a wooden ladder.
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There's also our Papai Tainui waterfalls and other rainforest waterfalls.
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We recommend Tung Tung Inga waterfall, is a bathing spot for, used to be a bathing spot for Samoan warriors.
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Now it's a scenic waterfall that flows into a natural swimming pool for a real peaceful retreat.
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We have our Langomanu beach and Langomanu beach has been voted numerous times as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
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It's situated on the south east, south eastern side of O'Polo.
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and it's renowned for its pristine white sands, crystal, turquoise waters and vibrant coral reefs.
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So it's also ideal for swimming, snorkeling and just relaxing at the beach valleys.
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We have our Alofa'ama blowholes, which is, are all there and they are situated located on the Sama'i Island, which is the other island, Big Island.
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And it's also known as the Tanga.
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Tama Blowholes.
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They're formed by ancient lava flows, and these blowholes are connected to the ocean through a series of lava tubes.
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So when the waves crash into the lower ends of the tubes, the seawater is forced upwards up to heights of 30 meters.
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And we have our Piula cave pools.
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This is a natural freshwater swimming spots that are located beneath a historical Piula Theological College.
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and it features clear, cool waters and a short passage connecting two caves.
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So these are popular destinations for our locals and visitors, our local villages, our cultural centers.
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We have the Samoa Cultural Village, which is open from Tuesday to Friday for two hours where our visitors can watch the cultural performances, our siwa, our fire dancing,
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weaving, tattooing, our LA pattern where you'd make handicrafts and that.
29:51
as well as our oven uh earth demonstration.
29:55
So there's so much to do for any visitors.
29:58
another very unique thing for us is our wellness treatment spas where we use a lot of our organic local products for spa treatments.
30:08
So, so
30:10
Okay, so I was going to ask about wellness, but you just answered.
30:13
So that's an option.
30:14
Meg, do we have any itineraries built specifically for wellness for Samara at this stage?
30:19
Not specifically for wellness, no.
30:22
uh I could look at that but the properties that we do sell, most of them do have spa and wellness facilities but I haven't put anything together particularly for wellness.
30:35
again, as you've both just said, it is an option down there.
30:39
if an agent gets a call about someone wanting to focus on wellness down there, we can obviously build an itinerary with that being the main focus.
30:46
um You've mentioned the currency.
30:49
um if a North American's coming in, can they use US dollars?
30:54
uh
30:57
use my credit card in most places and you can get local cash but no, not US dollars.
31:04
US dollars.
31:05
If anyone is traveling in Australia or New Zealand and they have any leftover currency of Oz or Kiwi dollars, can they use those in Samoa?
31:13
You'd have to change it to local currency.
31:16
That's my understanding.
31:17
um The value for money that I use is extraordinary.
31:21
sort of just going back to wellness.
31:23
did the morning that I left, I treated myself.
31:25
I had a 90 minute massage and it was only about 60, 65 Canadian dollars.
31:31
I didn't want to leave.
31:34
It was beautiful.
31:35
And that was at a hotel, you know, so that's normally a more expensive place to get a massage.
31:40
So it was incredible.
31:42
Okay, so um for those who are looking at visiting, you want to be using your credit cards.
31:48
I guess you can withdraw cash from ATM's local currency, but really it's a local currency if you're going to use cash that you want to be focusing on.
31:56
um Lossa, is um Samoa a LGBTQ plus friendly destination?
32:06
Good question.
32:06
Well, Samo is a conservative Christian society.
32:11
Same sex relationships are legal, um we recommend that often displays of, open displays of affection may not be culturally accepted.
32:23
So we do advise LGBTQ travelers to be respectful and low-key in public.
32:32
Okay, and I think that's a fair enough request.
32:35
I think that community's biggest issue is their safety and I think you've already answered that question, Samoa is a safe country for everyone.
32:43
like any country you visit, just respect the local culture.
32:47
It may not be what you agree with, but you're visiting them.
32:50
So respect their local culture and that is perfect.
32:55
You did mention in the things to see and do down there, a lot of water sports.
32:59
When you mentioned all the things to see and do, you mentioned a lot of water sports.
33:03
I was asking about sailing opportunities in and around the islands, be it a one-day or an extended stay on a vessel.
33:10
And I would assume by extension, there's some very good diving down in and around Samoa.
33:18
ah We do have diving uh operators mainly on, there's a good one at the Savai for a island.
33:29
It's the chopping species.
33:32
So they do fishing expeditions as well as tours.
33:38
So yeah, we do have some really good diving operators.
33:44
Yeah, I forgot to mention I will ask about the fishing because there are a of people who do enjoy fishing.
33:50
Fishing is definitely an option.
33:52
RP is also quite a popular cruise port down in the South Pacific as well.
33:55
So quite often find, you know, extended cruises that do pop into Samoa for a day.
34:03
Okay.
34:04
That's actually a beautiful segue question um for both of for that matter.
34:10
I would assume that Samoa is able to handle groups, be it small or large.
34:15
If they're handling cruise ships by extension, think uh the country can.
34:19
Are there also any big events that people should look at maybe designing a trip around?
34:25
You mentioned Independence Day is coming up.
34:27
there any other events for
34:30
individual travelers or for groups to be aware of.
34:35
Well, yeah, thank you.
34:36
Okay, so Samoa hosts various cultural festivals.
34:40
I mentioned the Te Rina Festival that we host annually in September, where we have all our cultural performances and where we host our Miss Samoa pageants.
34:53
We have our Independence Day celebration on the 1st of June and our White Sunday.
34:58
uh
35:00
for a White Sunday event in October.
35:02
And this is a very special national event where we celebrate our children and everyone wear white to church.
35:11
And the children will have performances at church and afterwards the adults will serve the children during a Sunday feast.
35:22
So this is a very special event for us, but it's also Easter on Good Friday.
35:29
We have our Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Christmas holidays.
35:33
But for our additional niche events, we have our waterfront events every month, once a month.
35:43
We have our night markets at the waterfront.
35:45
We have all our local performers and dancers.
35:51
We have the Palolo Rising, which is a special for a sea
35:59
worm delicacy that they only come up in October.
36:03
So everyone goes out and uh celebrate this delicacy.
36:12
We have our fishing uh tournaments, our annual fishing tournaments for where we invite our regional and for events that it's hosted in San Juan, the fishing.
36:23
there are lots of different events.
36:30
So again, sounds like a small two islands in particular, packing a big punch with things to see and do.
36:37
So Meg, in respect to what we, we being Go, we can offer now, generally speaking, we can offer everything that's out there within Reason.
36:47
um But historically, have we had Samoa as part of our product offering over the years, or is it new to us?
36:54
Or if we have had it over the years, are we obviously now looking to
36:58
Shine a brighter spotlight on Samara.
37:01
That's exactly it.
37:01
It has been part of the portfolio for a long time.
37:04
um I guess after COVID it took a little while to to get things going again.
37:10
But you know with our arrangement now with the Samoa Tourist Authority there's definitely a much bigger focus.
37:16
So I have increased the product range.
37:18
I've put together you know a couple of Samoa only vacations, a couple of combo vacations as well with Fiji.
37:25
I've got a New Zealand one coming soon.
37:27
So you're definitely going to see more of a focus.
37:31
It's definitely featuring a lot more of our marketing activity at the moment.
37:36
Okay, now um for those who work with Goa, you might know, and if you don't, I'll tell you that um we will often package product with AIR, because again, going back to we're an AIR
37:47
consolidator.
37:47
And the queen of AIR and LAND is Meg, because we have such strong contracts with our South Pacific partners, AIR partners.
37:56
Okay, so Meg just cut out on us, but she was mentioning attending a service.
38:00
um
38:02
Now I did the same thing in the Cook Island, so I'm assuming it's the same type of vibe, Lossa, so it's a very family-oriented culture by the sounds of it.
38:11
Now in the Cooks, everything shuts down on a Sunday.
38:13
It's the same for Samoa, that it is like a true day of rest and everyone sort of focuses on your nodding very vigorously there.
38:19
Everything closes and everyone goes to church.
38:24
And everyone's in white and there's a choir practice, there's different choir singers, there's the adults, the youth, the children.
38:33
It's still very much, it's a real spiritual environment in there, you know.
38:41
So, yeah, it's still the same as Samoa, nothing over there.
38:46
Yeah, I must admit my experience.
38:48
This was where the family still meet and the villagers will get together for our Sunday feast.
38:54
We call it a Sunday tome.
38:57
Yeah, I must admit my experience of that in the Cooks was amazing.
39:00
It was just such a beautiful experience.
39:02
So I would assume also that um travelers are invited or allowed to join the church service.
39:10
they can enjoy, they can visit any of the church ceremonies.
39:18
In fact, in Appiah town, there's many churches, there's a Catholic, for the Methodist, different churches, religious, they can just join for a visit and enjoy and experience.
39:34
So that's also worth noting too on your itinerary planning.
39:38
um Again, we might go into the details of when each airline flies and what day, but just keep that in mind that as Lossos mentioned on the Sunday.
39:48
You were asking me about whether Sam was idea for group travel.
39:52
Yes, it is actually.
39:53
Sam was idea for boutique incentive groups, wellness, retreats, wedding parties, and an adventurous focus to us.
40:01
We're also ideal for potential for mice market.
40:05
We've host last year, we hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in October, 2024, where King Charles and Queen Constance Camilla attended.
40:16
So Sam was.
40:18
and has the infrastructure to.
40:23
So it's great for small group travel that looking for authentic and eco adventure and cultural experiences.
40:31
Okay.
40:33
As I was mentioning, or as we were discussing, the church services on the Sunday and everything closes down.
40:38
So just keep that in mind when you're planning your itineraries that Sunday is a day of rest.
40:43
So there'll be very little open or to do from an organized point of view, other than just enjoy the culture and the welcoming people of Samoa.
40:52
So again, just keep that in mind in itinerary design or when you're
40:55
can go to swim, you know, they can still go and swim at the waterfalls, at the beaches, you know, and...
41:05
Nature never shuts down.
41:07
yeah, yeah, you can always enjoy nature.
41:10
It never rests.
41:11
It's always open.
41:12
Okay, so we're going to wrap up here now.
41:15
Losser, is there anything else you'd like to leave our listening audience with?
41:19
Like, is there anything new or exciting coming up for some hour in the near future or the sort of the distant future?
41:30
I didn't hear But you know, just uh if you're looking for something different, if you're looking to relax and rejuvenate, you're ready for that new experience, for a more cultural
41:41
and rich experience, Samoa is the perfect place for you.
41:45
And it's cost effective, you're able to enjoy new experiences.
41:54
look for ecotourism, sustainable, community-based offerings.
42:00
Samoa has got it.
42:02
Well, it does sound like as we've titled the podcast, you know, the jewel in the Pacific that's often overlooked.
42:08
And I think with what GoA is doing with the effort that Samoa Tourism Board is putting forth that it will soon not be overlooked as it was.
42:18
It sounds like now's the time to go before it becomes over, not over, becomes too popular, which is never a bad thing for a tourism board.
42:26
But I think you know what I mean?
42:28
Like get there now while it's quieter.
42:30
um I don't think increased trim is going to change the heart and soul of this Pacific Island country.
42:37
ah Having not been there but experienced similar cultural experiences and the feeling that you get when you visit the South Pacific Islands, I can only imagine it'll be even more so
42:49
welcoming, warm, ah and it sounds like there's so much to do again in such a small space.
42:56
as a standalone vacation, as a combination with Australia and or New Zealand or some of the other Pacific islands or coming directly out of Honolulu as well.
43:05
So there's lots of choices in how to get there, lots of choices in accommodation, lots of choices in country combos, lots of choices of things to see and do as we've gone through,
43:16
food, the whole thing.
43:18
So basically Samoa is there waiting.
43:20
uh We have the product for you.
43:22
We can customize what we have.
43:24
We have the airfares for you.
43:26
And on that note, I'd like to thank Lossa from the Samoan Tourism Board for joining us today on her early morning on Thursday um and a upcoming happy Independence Day to you
43:36
Lossa and to all the Samoans down there.
43:39
And is there anything else you'd like to say before we say goodbye?
43:42
Come visit Samoa, we'll make you feel, we'll welcome you with our popular warm generosity and hospitality.
43:50
and hospitality, of course, as we've had today.
43:53
What a perfect way to end our podcast today.
43:54
So everyone, again, thank you Lhasa for joining us.
43:57
Meg, who we lost, but yep, Meg's there to answer any questions you have and always to you out there listening to us.
44:04
Really appreciate your time.
44:05
If you have any questions, please reach out to GoA directly, or can reach out to the Samoan Tourism Board if you have any questions there as well.
44:13
We're here to help as is Lhasa, as is Samoa.
44:16
And again, thank you everyone for joining.
44:18
us today and we will talk to you soon.
44:21
Thank you.
44:23
uh you