New brand for South Pacific tourism

A new brand and identity for promoting South Pacific tourism globally was officially launched by Cook Islands Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, Henry Puna.

This was after it was approved at the 26th Council of Tourism Ministers Meeting in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, recently.

Organised by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), the region’s peak tourism development and marketing body, the council meeting was attended by tourism ministers and government representatives from 13 Pacific Island countries and China.

Papua New Guinea was represented by Tobias Kulang, Minister for Tourism, and Jerry Agus, Chief Executive Officer of PNGTPA. They were accompanied by Brigadier General Francis Agwi (retired), PNG High Commissioner to New Zealand and accredited to Tonga and Cook Islands.

The new brand draws heavily on Pacific Islands’ cultural elements, in particular weaving. Individual letters in South Pacific Islands and SPTO have been taken apart, then strung back together like the strands in a woven mat.
A simple corporate monogram for SPTO with a natural colour palette of beiges and browns, drawn from traditional craft, will be used for high-level communications.

On the other hand, all consumer facing communications will draw from a vibrant

palette that’s inspired by the vivid colours found in Pacific arts and culture as well as the region’s lush natural environment.

A new consumer-facing slogan “Ours is yours” accompanies the new brand. It evokes the welcoming nature of Pacific peoples and the Pacific spirit of sharing, in particular the unique cultures and pristine natural environments that our island countries share with visitors from around the world.

In launching the new brand, Puna said: “The South Pacific Islands are incredibly diverse and range from coral atolls to volcanic islands”.

“They’re also home to a rich variety of cultures. The new brand for South Pacific tourism has found a simple yet effective way to connect our island countries through our shared heritage of weaving.

“At the same time, it’s a resolutely modern identity, one that will help propel South Pacific tourism forward in the increasingly globalised world”.

The creative agency behind the new identity Future Brand has been responsible for a number of highly successful brand launches, including Fiji Airways and Tahiti’s destination brand in recent times.

SPTO led the brand development over a two-year period in close consultation with SPTO’s 18 member countries.

The current South Pacific Tourism brand has been in use since the late 90s and has been in need of overhaul for some time as is standard industry practice.

A full roll out of the new brand and identity will commence in the coming weeks and months.

After the meeting, Minister Kulang highlighted that tourism contributes more than 50 percent to the market of most of the South Pacific Island nations.

Tourism in PNG contributes less than 2 percent to the economy.

With the keen interest and support shown by the Government in recent times, PNG stands to benefit a lot from tourism development.

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