About Us

This whole venture started by accident…

I have been travelling to Fiji from Australia to spend the winter, covid excluding, for 9 years. 7 years ago, our holiday home was built to lockup stage, and I finished it off with the help of the locals.

One of these locals who still works with me while I am there has become like family. In August 2023, he overheard me bemoaning the fact that another proposed village stay I had hoped to attend had failed to eventuate. I had been trying to set up a village stay for some years for myself and visiting family to no avail. We were all prepared to pay for the experience.

My local friend suggested I go with him to spend a few days on Kioa Island where he has many relatives. I was gobsmacked. I asked why he had not suggested this years ago. He replied that he was completely unaware but was more than happy to take myself and my friend out there.

We put a wonderful few days on the island living with the locals. My friend, like a lot of locals, struggles to find regular, decent paying employment. While we were still on the island, I suggested he could guide more people out to the island as paying customers just like us. He was enthusiastic, so we spoke with the Island Council. Council was also keen to explore the idea further.

Upon arriving home, I commenced training my friend in the required skills of running a tourist guiding business. I had no interest in anything other than assisting my friend. I was still in full time employ back home in Australia. At the time of writing, I still am.

I also established communications with the Island Council and over time we refined a business strategy. We continue to work collaboratively in what has become a very enjoyable process shared by friends.

As the idea evolved, it became clear that my friend, while an excellent guide, had no experience with the legal and statuary obligations of running a small business and marketing it to the world. I have many years of business experience and it became obvious that If I was to pull out, the true potential of this venture would never be realised and would likely cease to exist in a short period of time.

After much soul searching, I committed to following this through with my friend and “Village Stay Fiji” was born providing him with stable, well-paid employment to support his young family and creating a substantial, sustainable and eco-friendly income stream for the village, which will help provide better access to education and health initiatives, as well as an opportunity for the young people from the village to learn valuable skills in communicating and guiding foreign tourists. In a country such as Fiji that relies so heavily on tourism, these are valuable skills to have. It also changed my life plans beyond recognition.

We now have more villages coming online with many more keen to become involved as we grow to support more and more regions.

I am very grateful for the support of my daughter and other family members who rolled up their IT sleeves and provided much needed support.

We are all very excited about what the future holds for “Village Stay Fiji” 😊

– Steve

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