Joining UH and USC in the tournament were No. 4 Florida State, No. 7 Arizona, Nebraska and Utah. The two-day event was a round-robin, dual match format with five courts in play at a time.

The SandBows shut out Nebraska 5-0 before its first loss of the season to No. 4 Florida State, 3-2, on opening day.

Winning the first two matches of the second day, the SandBows fell to top-ranked USC in the tournament finale. USC (11-0) captured the 2017 Outrigger Hawaii Invitational title with a 5-0 record on a 4-1 win over Hawaii (11-2) Saturday, March 18. They remain undefeated pushing their winning streak to 41 consecutive matches.

As title sponsor of the tournament, Outrigger Resorts hit the beach on Saturday for some fun in the sun and giveaways to fans who posed with our UH social media frame and tagged their post #outriggerresorts.

Mahalo to coordinator extraordinaire Jim Utsugi and enthusiastic #teamOutrigger volunteers: Barbara Campbell, Will Caraway, Jane Chen and husband Kent Chong and daughter Linda, Patrick Concepcion, Xue Qun Guan, Kimo Miguel, CJ Sword and Taryn Wong.

Go SandBows!

Our hosts from food and beverage service completed a very successful cocktail making training. Each showcased their creativity by coming up with their very own cocktail recipe!

On her last day of work, Josie generously catered a luncheon for the entire Kiahuna ‘ohana. Good food and good friends, however, did not stop her from completing all her rooms.

We wish Josie all the best as she begins a new chapter of her life.

Representing Jetset and Upscale Living magazines, Rahim joined Amanda Woods from Sydney’s 2UE radio station and Adventures All Round; Kate Kyriacou from the Brisbane Courier-Mail’s QWeekend magazine; and Kevin Page from New Zealand’s NZMe Travel.

Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort has been a strong advocate of community tourism and the group visited its latest initiative, the construction of two classrooms at the Conua School in the Sigatoka Valley.

The writers also visited Sigatoka District Hospital where Outrigger helped construct a new maternity ward, the local produce market and Tavuni Hill Fort.

A ride on the newly opened zip rail through the rain forest canopy at Kula Wild Adventure Park raised adrenalin levels that were later calmed by a soothing treatment at the resort’s acclaimed Bebe Spa Sanctuary.

After transferring to Castaway Island, Fiji, the group boarded a speedboat for the trip to Modriki Island, famous as the setting for the Tom Hanks’ movie Castaway, where we enjoyed a guided snorkel followed by Champagne on the beach.

Back at Castaway, we again donned snorkels and goggles to view the results of the resort’s coral planting program, part of Outrigger’s OZONE conservation program.

Vinaka vakalevu (thank you very much), FOR and FCI hosts, for taking such good care of our media guests.

It doesn’t get any better than local kine grinds and specialty spirits while taking in traditional Hawaiian mele (music). Na Hoku Hanohano winners Hookena, Kuana Torres Kahele, Kupaoa, Sean Naauao, Weldon Kekauoha and Jeff Rasmussen attracted fans and first-time listeners in celebration of Kani Ka Pila Grill’s eighth anniversary.

There were nightly prize giveaways and a lucky grand prize winner of a two-night staycation at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort plus a $100 Kani Ka Pila Grille gift card. Congratulations to Jesse Mendez.

Mark your calendars: Mele Mei Sunday is coming with the BEST in Hawaiian music entertainment.

Mahalo to Uncle Calvin Hoe for passing on his knowledge to our keiki and to Slack Key master Mike Kaawa who entertained with song about the ocean, Hokulea and crew.

Mark your calendars: The next O Ke Kai Series is Saturday, June 17, 9 a.m. at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort, the same day Hokulea should arrive back to Hawaii. Stay tuned to Saturday Briefing for more information.

Annique Labuschagne

BY MARK SIMMONS — As the Middle East Region continues to grow as a source market for our properties with increasing connectivity from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Outrigger Middle East sales office has appointed Annique Labuschagne as our new account director for the region, effective April 3, 2017.

Annique brings with her a wealth of sales and marketing experience. She started her career in the UAE with Gulf Reps and managed the growth of Shangri La properties in Maldives, Tokyo and Oman. She then managed the strategic development of Ireland as a tourism destination from the GCC. Annique followed this by managing the strategic marketing of Visit Britain in the region before returning to work with Gulf Reps earlier this year.

We’re now in the process of running a comprehensive handover in the run up to April 3, when Annique, as part of Gulf Reps, takes over full operational responsibility for the Outrigger Resorts account in the Middle East

Sammy Musa, managing director of Gulf Reps, will retain close oversight of the delivery of Outrigger sales and marketing strategy in the region and will report to me.

The appointment of Annique is designed to take the Outrigger portfolio of properties to the next level of growth in the Middle East market.

Please join me in welcoming Annique to the team.

Outrigger Resorts was active at ITB Berlin, March 8-10, said to be the largest travel show in the world. We had a good turnout at our annual cocktail reception at the Outrigger Resorts booth in the Asia hall of ITB Berlin March 8 with a mix of tour operators, travel agents and media joining us.

Just prior to ITB Berlin, our Germany rep, May Kamya, and our Asia/UK media rep, Ken Scott, attended the inaugural International Media Marketplace (IMM) Germany on 7 March. May and Ken met with 20 journalists in a sequence of 15-minute ‘speed dates.’ The show went well as did the larger IMM UK that Ken attended for Outrigger May 13 in London. Ken met with 25 journalists for one-on-one information exchange about Outrigger Resorts.

Signature Experiences, our coral rehabilitation program in the Maldives, great food and beverage offering in Mauritius and various community support tourism initiatives run by Outrigger in Fiji were among the many topics that interested the media. (Note to GMs: Expect some media trip requests coming soon!)

Meanwhile our UK rep, Andrea Hogg, not only attended ITB Berlin for Outrigger Resorts, she also flew the flag for Outrigger at UNITE and PATA events in the UK either side of ITB Berlin.

The benefits from all these engagements will flow through to Outrigger in the weeks and months ahead.

Thank you to the Outrigger Resorts team in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region for your efforts over the last two weeks. Next up: Our Outrigger Resorts Australia road show later this month.

OGM’s recreation team, alongside the cultural group Inetnon Gef Pago, continues to coordinate cultural events all monthlong. Guests are welcomed to join a cultural dance lesson, coconut palm weaving or Chamorro hut building. The month concludes with a Chamorro fashion show showcasing ancient Chamorro clothing and ornamentation.

The cultural dance lesson is focused on the native dance of the Chamorro people. Guests learn to dance with traditional sticks held in each hand and taught to strike them in intricate patterns, known as the bailan pailitu, or “stick dance.”

Early Chamorro people were expert weavers and pottery-makers, evidenced in cultural artifacts and architecture that remain today. As weaving continues to be an important practice on Guam, guests are invited to learn the artistry of the craft. Various leaves and palms create items for the everyday life of the Chamorro culture. Guests are taught how to create their own palm woven fish attached to a palm “fishing rod” used as a toy, or more challenging creations such as flowers, stars, animals or baskets.

The Chamorro hut building activity highlights the traditional ancient housing of the Chamorro culture. Guests are provided the supplies of nature to creature their huts with bamboo, palm leaves and small latte stones.

As Outrigger Guam Beach Resort celebrates Mes Chamorro in spotlighting the native culture of the island, our guests embrace the celebration with us!

The 6-day event was an 850km (528 mi) bike ride from Hua-Hin to Phuket to raise funds for three local charities including our own Outrigger share4change initiative.

I was arm-twisted into joining 13 other riders for the week and while I am still struggling to sit down 2 days after finishing, have to say the experience of riding off the beaten track through stunning Thai countryside was an experience I will never forget.

The event ended with a fundraising dinner at Metzo’s supported by over 100 guests from the local community who, perhaps influenced by a couple of glasses of wine, donated generously at the silent auction. Funds raised will help support our community initiative to improve the facilities at an under-funded local school, Baan Khok Wat Mai.

Just 700kms to go

The ride4kids team