LOVE IN THE LAP OF LUXURY

Fiji's Adults only resorts create luxurious ambiences for couples who prefer tranquility

- Gustasp and Jeroo Irani

Want to stage an elopement, tie the knot in an old-world chapel, celebrate a beach wedding or have a champagne breakfast in bed? Perhaps savour a candlelit dinner on an uninhabited island or sand bar where white surf frills up to an unblemished beach? The Republic of Fiji has ‘Adults Only’ resorts that woo couples and amp up the romance quotient with these blandishments.

The country is an archipelago of 333 islands strewn in the South Pacific Ocean, of which only a little over a third are inhabited, with a population of 884,887. According to the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, the volume of tourists who visit the country is almost as large as its own population. It received 870,309 tourists in 2018, with the tourism industry generating a revenue of about $917.51 million.

“India is one of the key emerging markets for Tourism Fiji,” says Kathy Koyamaibole, regional manager Asia, Tourism Fiji. “We have seen a stable growth of 15 percent year-on-year in Indian arrivals. In 2018, we had 5,901 tourists from India, a 14 percent increase compared to the previous year. We aim to further the initiatives we are carrying out in the Indian market to continue the double-digit growth.” The initiatives include efforts to raise awareness about this idyllic nation where romance flows like a languorous river.

The boutique luxury havens in Fiji take playing Cupid very seriously, much like their counterparts elsewhere in the world, from resorts in Big Sur and Napa Valley in California to Costa Rica and Bali, where the focus is on child-detox and digital-detox. Across the world, Adults Only resorts tend to be secreted away in off-trail locales such as in vineyards, atop cliffs, in stately mansions and on private islands and offer the luxury of solitude and space to travelling love birds or harried parents in need of a break.