The five hotels that were supposed to house the 832 international delegates of Jehovah’s Witnesses of Fiji for the August Special Convention sold out in record time, the organization is happy to say. Months in advance of the May 2024 deadline, every hotel has 100% confirmed reservations.

The Pearl Resort, Novotel Lami Bay, Tanoa Plaza Suva, Yue Lai Hotel, and Uprising Beach Resort are the five hotels.

“I recall the day the lodging became available. Due to the time difference with America, it opened there late at night; by the time we woke up in the morning, reservations were pouring in.

Natalie Marletta, general manager of The Pearl Resort, commented, “It was amazing; we have never seen anything like it before.”

We now have 210 rooms available, all of which are fully booked. We are thrilled to have the group visit us because we also have the premium penthouse apartments, which were the first to go,” Marletta continued.

The other hotels have reported similar great experiences.

Moana Mongston, events and groups coordinator at Uprising Beach Resort, stated, “All 24 of our private rooms are booked; all bookings were received and confirmed by December 2023, way before the cut off month.”

Early in 2023, Jehovah’s Witnesses started working with the hotels to reserve rooms for their visitors.

“We appreciate the five hotels’ collaboration. It was the Tanoa who initially accepted our approach of room blocking. Jehovah’s Witnesses regional spokesman Tekaiva Sosene stated, “The Pearl and Yue Lai filled up very quickly, Uprising bookings flooded in too, and Novotel communicated things very clearly with us.”

All of our delegates paid for their hotel reservations directly. While this was novel for the hotels, National Spokesperson for Jehovah’s Witnesses Nathan Mouritz stated, “Because the bookings were made so far in advance, the hotels got their money much quicker than if they were selling their rooms through the usual methods.”

According to Mouritz, “this has turned out to be a real cash injection as the hotel costings for rooming, food, and beverage are contributing significantly to the $7.0M estimated to be generated by this Special Convention.”

The entire public is invited to the Special Convention, which will take place at the Vodafone Arena from August 16–18.