Tonga's Dateline Hotel opens ahead of deadline

The soft opening of the Tanoa International Dateline Hotel on November 1, 2016 slipped by with little fanfare.

However, it was an important achievement for the owners Y. P. Reddy, son Rohit and the Reddy family, who reopened the hotel, six months before the target date of April 2017.

Earlier this year Cyclone Winston swept close to Tonga and caused minor damage and slowed down the work. But there was major damage caused to one of their Fiji hotel properties. The Tanoa Hotel in Rakiraki was closed for several weeks after Cyclone Winston struck it and the nearby village causing utter devastation. With true resilience, however, work on the Tanoa International Dateline continued and the doors opened near enough as planned.

Tanoa Hotel Group Sales Director Nick Ridling said the soft opening was an opportunity to have a run-through and iron out any issues before the official opening in February 2017 which would be much bigger to include dignitaries, Government officials and the King of Tonga.

The reconstruction involved a complete overhaul of internal structures, work on the west wing, the foyer, conference halls, restaurant, poolside bar and swimming pool. The staff, of which 90 per cent are locally hired, were fully trained in Fiji.

The refurbishment into today’s 4.5-star offering was carried out under the keen eye of the senior Reddy who relished the challenge. Rohit Reddy said his 81-year old dad was on site often and they were thankful for all his years of experience in construction and hotel building in Fiji dating back to 1965, when the Tanoa Hotel Group was established. All the original old wooden structures were completely honey combed and had to be fully replaced along with all the electricals and the plumbing throughout.

The hotel chain has a great reputation as a family owned and operated business. Indeed, the soft opening on November 1 was coincidentally just four days before Y.P. Reddy’s 82nd birthday making it a double celebration for the Reddy family.

The hotel is the newest in the Tanoa Group’s stable of 10 hotels in Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand.  The chain employs more than 1000 staff.

Managing Director Rohit Reddy said the Tonga redevelopment gave them the opportunity to also review and realign their brand to their company’s core values providing a point of difference in the market place.

“It’s exciting times ahead for Tanoa Hotels and our refreshed brand has brought us up to date in the modern tourism landscape,” he said in a media release on the Reddy Group website.

The rebranding has also helped them focus more closely on their point of difference and what makes them exceptional amongst others. The new logo and colour palette and marketing collateral will be rolled out across all the hotels in the coming months.

The Tanoa bowl however remains as a key part of the logo as a significant icon in the Pacific and symbolic of the coming together of people.

“The new brand reflects our professional, friendly, personable and uncomplicated offer – we make it easy.  We’re flexible and make your visit easy, whether for a holiday, stopover, business, wedding or conference.”

The review and rebranding has also helped put a sharper focus on the hotel groups core business – the Pacific islands


SOURCE: PACIFIC PERISCOPE