Results for Ministry of Tourism

With the annual Heilala Festival starting this week in Nuku’alofa, $10,000 pa’anga from corporate sponsors was handed over to the Deputy Prime Minister Hon. Semisi Sika on June 25.

A weekly direct flight to Tonga from mainland China is being negotiated and is planned to be launched before the end of the year, according to the Ministry of Tourism.

Sixteen contestants, vying for the Miss Heilala 2018 crown, made their first public appearance on June 27, at Tanoa International Dateline Hotel in Nuku'alofa.

HRH Princess Pilolevu unveiled a plaque to mark the 30th anniversary of Tonga’s National Cultural Centre on May 4 at Tofoa.

Vava’u Tourism is expecting many visitors to the island group during June to July with many events being held there this year.

A complaint has been lodged with Tonga's Public Relations Commission against the new Minister for Tourism, Hon. Semisi Sika, accusing him of an "illegal takeover" of the Tonga Tourism Authority Board, according to Tomifa Paea, the TTA chairman who said he filed the complaint and that the dispute had led to a freezing of the TTA bank account. It is now expected that new board members for TTA will be announced tomorrow, Thursday, in an ongoing dispute between the Minister of Tourism and the TTA that was originally set up to operate as an independent body.

If you have been wondering about the two brownish steel sculptures that have been erected on the entrance to the newly restructured Vuna Wharf, Professor 'Okusitino Mahina from the National Public Art Programme has the answer, "they are artistic impressions of the beautiful maiden Hina and her beloved pet eel, and one is called Hinavakamea, Hina-the-iron-boat and the other, a mirror image of Hinavakamea, is called Tunavakamea, Tuna-the-iron-boat."

Fineasi Funaki (44) Tonga's former Minister of Tourism who was undergoing dialysis treatment for his kidney in Fiji died in Suva on Saturday, November 13.