Improving air and regional connectivity must be the Pacific’s top priority if it wants to win more meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) business, Rosie Holidays’ director of business development Adeline Lee‑Erasito told delegates at the SPTO Industry Day 2026 in Nadi this week. Speaking on a panel convened to examine how Pacific destinations can better compete for higher‑value events, Ms Lee‑Erasito argued that access and coordination determine competitiveness before planners even consider product quality.
Her comments came in response to a question from Fiji Airways’ business development manager for MICE & business events, Nikita Devi, and underlined a recurring industry theme: great venues and experiences count for little if delegates cannot reach them easily or affordably. “Because no matter how strong our product is, if it’s difficult or costly to get here, we limit our competitiveness from the outset,” Ms Lee‑Erasito said. She urged improvements in air access, better regional connections and aligned scheduling as immediate steps that “make a significant difference.”
Lee‑Erasito broadened the definition of connectivity beyond seat‑kilometres, saying it also encompasses how well the Pacific functions as a region. “Connectivity is not just about flights — it’s also about how well we connect as a region,” she told the room, calling for stronger collaboration between destinations, governments, airlines and industry partners. “If not connectivity, then the biggest opportunity is collaboration — because together, the Pacific is far stronger than we are individually,” she added.
Those remarks follow a string of recent transport and digital investments across the region aimed at narrowing access gaps. Fiji Airways’ domestic arm Fiji Link took delivery of a new ATR aircraft in January, a move the airline has said will strengthen services to outer islands and regional destinations. Broader connectivity projects — from undersea fiber projects discussed last year for Tuvalu to Fiji’s Starlink‑supported rural internet rollout — also illustrate that both air and digital links are being addressed, though Lee‑Erasito stressed more coordinated action is required to turn infrastructure into market‑winning advantage for MICE.
For the MICE sector, the payoff of better connectivity is clear, she said: increased confidence among planners, more competitive pricing and a broader willingness to include Pacific stops in regional itineraries. “So ultimately, if we can make it easier to get here and easier to do business, we will naturally unlock more MICE opportunities,” Lee‑Erasito said, framing improved access and cross‑border cooperation as practical levers to attract larger conventions and corporate events that deliver higher per‑visitor spend.
Industry stakeholders at SPTO Industry Day — which brought together hoteliers, airlines, government tourism officials and event planners — took the message as a roadmap for near‑term action. While infrastructure takes time and capital, delegates noted there are immediate steps that can be pursued jointly: route scheduling alignment, multi‑destination packaging, and streamlined regulatory and marketing efforts that present the Pacific as a single, joined‑up proposition to event buyers in Asia, Australasia and beyond.
Lee‑Erasito’s intervention is the latest development in an ongoing conversation about how Pacific islands can move up the tourism value chain. With competition for MICE business intensifying across the Asia‑Pacific region, the industry’s focus has shifted from product development alone to solving the practical barriers that shape buyer decisions. Her call for connectivity and collaboration places those barriers squarely at the centre of planning for future growth.
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