Registrations open
REGISTRATIONS for the 16th HOTEC Tradeshow is open and will close on October 18 with the event to take place on November 7 to 8 at the Denarau Island Convention Centre at the Sheraton Fiji Resort.
This year the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association has planned an exciting event for industry stakeholders from all areas of the industry — from front office staff to housekeeping and engineers, to name a few.
FHTA chief executive officer Fantasha Lockington said over the years the HOTEC had grown — not so much in size but in the different range of activities and exhibitions offered.
Ms Lockington said the HOTEC generally provided a forum where people within the industry could come to see what else was happening in the industry and how they could improve whatever services they were providing.
“Whether you supply a product, a service or are a new entrant in the industry, we provide the platform for you to showcase your products/services to the tourism industry,” she said.
“For instance you might have a few specific people you supply to but you have been trying to grow your customer base or you might have been dealing with a range of goods and services and you may have recently branched out into a slightly different field or expanded your range.”
She said HOTEC provided them with the platform to exhibit their products and services to the industry stakeholders and assist them in attracting buyers.
According to Ms Lockington while they encourage the exhibitors to showcase their products and services, they use the same platform to also talk to the industry about what things should be like or what new things are of interest to them.
“This can include marketing initiative — how to improve your sales and marketing programs, you might have new staff who may not understand human resources or international relation policies so we have experts who will provide seminars and trainings on those issues.”
Some of the other things that are being planned as part of the program include a short workshop by the Association of Bankers in Fiji who will raise awareness on credit card frauds, the changes and security measures in place so that the front and back office staff members at resorts and hotels are aware.
“Our front line staff in the sector change quite often and if you are aware of what some of the credit card issues are then it helps you recognise it and report it.”
She said Fiji Revenue and Customs Service representatives would also be present to carry out education and awareness sessions on the VMS.
“We have also sent out our interest to FRCS on being present at the event to assist tourism industry stakeholders and resort staff members on registration for the online portals and if they approve then they will be able to provide this service to the staff present at the event on Denarau.”
Ms Lockington said this year they had again partnered with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture with Ministry of Fisheries also coming on board to be part of the HOTEC.
She said this would provide an opportunity for the industry stakeholders to catch up with the food industry in terms of what local produce was available for resort chefs to use in their recipes. “We partner with the MITT, MOA and MOF to showcase to the industry what new produce is available. We bring this to the attention of the chefs in the industry so that they are aware that new produce is available.
“Last year for instance one of the things that excited most of the chefs was the availability of oyster mushrooms. Most people don't know that we have oyster mushrooms in Fiji — grown commercially, as well as some of the other line of produce.
“One of the things that we try and encourage in the industry is use of local produce and for that we got the likes of Lance Seeto who is looking at setting up a live kitchen to do cooking displays.”
Meanwhile interest has also been shown by the high commissions who want to talk about how to get in touch with the consulates for responses.
“Just because we deal with the tourism industry, our visitors are from overseas so we want to connect the resorts and hotels to the consulates.”
Competitions
Ms Lockington said competitions would also be part of the HOTEC 2019 such as bed making, napkin folding and barista competitions.
She said this year they were expecting more people to take part in the competitions such as bed making and napkin folding.
“Our people are talented but they are just too shy to showcase their talents in front of huge crowds. To encourage them to take part we have interesting prizes from some great sponsors,” she said.
“We have our annual barista competition — not just for those who are working in the resorts but for those who have the skills, work in either a coffee shop or have been provided the training and know how to put together a good brew can also enter.”
For the napkin folding competition Ms Lockington said such competitions allowed the resorts and hotels to look at the different levels of talent and look at how they could uplift their level of professionalism.
She said the industry was not just about food and beverage – it was about entertainment, children's entertainment, safety and security and the event had something for everyone from the industry.