Over 80 tourism buyers and sellers are expected to participate at the 2nd South Pacific Tourism Exchange (SPTE) which will be held on 19th and 20th June, 2015 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Seller registrations for the SPTE 2015 opened on Monday, 9th February. This year the registration fees are AUD $2,000 per delegate. The fees include:
• 2 Morning teas, 2 lunches and 1 afternoon tea during appointment session days;
• Final night cocktail canapés;
• Up to 39 prescheduled appointment per delegate over two days;
• Delegate registration pack including participant directory and
• Up to 39 -15 minute appointment slots.
Sellers are made up of tourism operators in the South Pacific that will sell their products and services at the two day event.

The SPTE 2015 is targeting 80 international buyers to meet and network with 80 tourism operators (National tourism offices, ITOs, regional airlines, hotel operators, tour and excursion operators) from the South Pacific Tourism Organisation's (SPTO) 16 Pacific Island member countries including American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Due to the high the demand from both Buyers and Sellers after last year's successful inaugural SPTE 2014 in Auckland, the organisers have decided to increase the participation by 30 extra places compared to 50 last year.

SPTO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ilisoni Vuidreketi said the interest shown by the regions private sector is very positive and SPTE is gearing up to be another successful event.

“We sent out expressions of interest to our 16 Pacific Island member countries including Fiji, to gauge the participation at this year's event. The response from the tourism private sector has been very overwhelming and we are optimistic of hosting a successful SPTE 2015”.

So far, 18 private sector participants from Fiji have confirmed their interest to participate at this year's SPTE, 9 more from 2014. Tourism operators in the Cook Islands have also indicated their interest with seven registered compared to five in 2014. American Samoa has also noted their interests with seven registered so far.

“Australia is the main tourism source market for the Pacific region and many of our Pacific Island countries are targeting the SPTE to help promote their destinations and its products and services”, Mr. Vuidreketi added.

160,048 Australian tourists visited the region in quarter 3 of 2014 with Fiji receiving nearly 63% and Vanuatu 12% of the market share. Fiji, Vanuatu and our other Pacific Island member countries are looking to the SPTE as the major travel expo to provide them the much needed platform to grow their business out of Australia and New Zealand as well as the long haul markets of Europe, United Kingdom, the Americas and the emerging markets of China and India.

“We are also encouraging the private sector to sign up to the SPTO as a member to reap the benefits that the SPTO can provide for your business at all the international tourism and trade shows that we attend overseas. All SPTO Private Sector members are also offered a discount on the registration fees for SPTE 2015. We see this as an incentive to the private sector to participate in the region's largest tourism exchange”, Mr. Vuidreketi added.

Discount offers below are only available to registered and paid SPTO Private Sector members.
Private Sector delegates PARTICIPATION FEE
1. AUD 2,000 per company
2. AUD 1,900 for SPTO Pacific Jewel members (per company)
3. AUD 1,700 for SPTO Pacific Premium members (per company)

Seller registrations close on 26th March.

The SPTO has also released a three tier membership fee option for the private sector. More information on the membership fee structure can be accessed at www.spto.org/members.