Vanuatu Tourism Awards 2007

"And the winner is..."

The 2007 Vanuatu tourism awards were presented at The Sebel Hotel on Saturday evening. Guests arrived and enjoyed the magnificent views and custom entertainment at Poolside before moving into the function room especially decorated and presented by the Sebel for this night of nights for Tourism Operators.Over 160 guests sat down to a sumptuous meal beautifully prepared by the Sebel Chefs.

This was the baptism of fire for the Sebel Management and staff and they emerged winners with flying colours and the evening went without a hitch. Guests were ,more than impressed with the quality of both the food and service of Port Vila’s most recently opened Hotel. Committee Chairman Bryan Death opened the evening by welcoming Long time general manager of the VTO Linda Kalpoi and Special Guest for the evening Mark Beretta (Chanel 7 Sunrise Sports Anchor)

Bryan welcomed all guests and emphasised the growth in the countries tourism arrival both by air and sea as a great signal to operators for the future.“The 2007 year is set to break all records for tourists arrival to Vanuatu and will grow the 2006 numbers by some 18%” said Bryan. Bryan introduced Mark Beretta who proceeded to entertain the audience with some great sporting stories from his experiences over many years in the media.

The presentation of awards throughout the evening ought squeals of delight from the winner’s tables as the winners in the various categories were announced. Sponsors were asked to assist with the presentation of their various awards throughout the evening. The winners all received beautifully handcrafted trophies and other prizes

The Special Chairman’s award for 2007 which recognises an individual’s service to tourism over time was this year presented to Evergreen Tours Managing Director Phillip Malas. A full list of the winners in each category appears below:

Best Resort for the 2007 Tourism Award Le Lagon Resort
Best Hotel under 20 rooms Fatumaru Lodge
Best Hotel over 20  rooms Breakers Beach Resort
Best Bungalow Lonnoc Bungalows - Espiritu Santo
Best FOH Anita Ambong (The Melanesian Hotel)
Best BOH Ruth Alice - Coconut Palms, Anni Sibbly - Adventures in Paradise
Best Tour Guide Vila Discovery
Best Cultural/Scenic Tour Lelepa Island Day Tour
Best Adventure Tour Vanuatu Ecotour
Chairman's Award Philip Malas - Evergreen Tours Limited
Green Award Lelepa Island Day Tour

Congratulations to all winners!

Source: The Independent Newspaper, Sunday 16th December 2007.