The dawn of a new era

the rest of the world tries to work out how and where they are going to wel come the new millennium, the South Pacific region is making plans on how it can make

this event memorable for those visiting their shores to welcome the new century. Focus will be on the South Pacific at the turn of the century as people from all over the world celebrate the dawn of the Year

2000. The Tourism Council of the South Pacific has set up a mil

lennium co-ordinating

committee which will be in charge of putting together the programme for this special event.

Bernadette Rounds-Ganilau has been appointed millennium co-ordinator and she talks about the exciting pro gramme being planned. “The South Pacific has the advantage of being the region to get the first and the last ray of dawn so it will be celebrated here twice,”

Rounds-Ganilau says.

“The day is going to begin in Tonga and end in Western Samoa. We are using the novelty of that particular idea to draw people here to enjoy the new century twice - it’s not just one particular day but the lead-up to it. It is going to be one big

exciting programme.”

The committee is at the moment involved in the preparatory process, whereby each country is putting together a programme which they expect to be the attraction of the century for them.

“All these programmes will go towards a calendar of events which will be distributed at trade, travel and tourism fairs around the world.” Rounds-Ganilau is confident that many countries are going to take advantage of these fairs to pro mote themselves and the attractions in their country overseas.

“While planning for the programme, we are not just looking at the attractions and events that hotels will offer, but a whole range of other things, including

Millennium

Of The South Seas

crossing the threshold of time

culture, sports, education, religion, chil dren and women.”

Rounds-Ganilau, who was in New Zealand last month attending a committee meeting, said the countries were excited and TCSP members who are on the com mittee were throwing in a wide range of ideas. “One good idea would be to set up a huge network throughout the region and to set up sub-stations strategically in, say.

Western Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and perhaps Tahiti. The anchor would probably be in Fiji and there will be several centres in Fiji where they’ll have staff just tuning in to what people in these countries are doing leading up to the new millennium.

She added that there was also talk of getting television stations involved because they always want to be part of what is happening and make things hap pen. “They could set up in several parts of the region and see what happens at the time. They will be able to film people in, say, Kiribati, a small ancient atoll, and find out what the millennium means for them. “While we are doing our best to promote the event, we are not stressing the point so that it becomes competitive

or that you are going to see it first. We are the Pacific and the dawn rises on all of us.

It just so happens that one or two of us will receive the rays first.

“So, we are doing a solidarity thing so the whole of the South Pacific benefits and just not

one or two countries.”

Rounds-Ganilau added that countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and

Europe had expressed

interest in what was happening and had put forward some ideas. These include festivals and events such as the America’s Cup, which will be held in 1999.

“There is talk about letting it run in this part of the world and letting people trace the journey of

the yachts through the

Pacific.”

While the committee and the whole of the Pacific is excited about the idea, they are not rushing

into things because there is a lot to be done and careful planning is necessary.

But while most of the countries are busy preparing themselves for the big event, Rounds-Ganilau said there were some countries where, she realised, “the penny hadn’t dropped”.*** “I think give it until about next year and, in typical Pacific Island fashion, we are going to do things last minute - and do very well out of it.” In order to have these efforts recognised worldwide, the TCSP launched its new millennium logo at the International Travel Fair in Berlin, Germany, last month. One of the largest international tourism trade fairs, it was attended by 115 participants from all 12 member countries of the TCSP. The logo

was recently approved by the Millennium

2000 Consortium, which first met in April, 1996 to co-ordinate celebrations for the new millennium. The logo and by line “Millennium of the South Seas, crossing the threshold of time” evokes the spirit of the South Pacific and our unique ness, says the TCSP.

The council feels that the South Pacific is the place to be to bid farewell to the 20th century as well as the place to be

for a once-in-a-thousand-years experi

ence. ■