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By BRIAN GOMEZ in Sydney
AUSTRALIA’S most widely read weekend newspaper travel section has run a
seven-page special, “South Pacific Holidays – from family fun in Fiji to
Samoa’s Smiling Welcome”.
But The Weekend Australian’s Travel & Indulgence special managed to
feature the region’s tourism highlights without any mention of Papua New
Guinea, the South Pacific’s largest developing island nation grouping
and its most culturally diversified.
The front-page item headlined “Loyalty Points” carried a sub-heading
“Venture beyond Noumea to enjoy untrammelled Melanesia”.
Another writer, Helen Hutcheon, describes South Pacific cruises that are
on offer, evoking the subtle and fragrant qualities of frangipani and
the James Michener musical, South Pacific.
Among the cruise companies mentioned are Regent Seven Seas Cruises,
based in Papeete; NCL America based in Honolulu; Blue Lagoon Cruises in
Fiji and several others.
A full-colour double-page panel advertisement features “Discovery
Voyages” by Princess Cruises ... “four spectacular cruises from 28-75
nights sailing round trip from Australia”. Costs range from A$5,852 to a
high of A$23,684 per person.
The most expensive is for a “Grand Pacific World Cruise” that totally
skirts Papua New Guinea. Commencing from Sydney through Tahiti, Pago
Pago and Christmas Island through Hawaii, San Francisco and Alaska, it
then makes stops at Russia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore
and Darwin before heading back to home base.
 
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