Thousands of New Zealanders flock to the tropical joys of Fiji every year and now some are helping create a new kind of paradise - for the people who live there.
Millions of tourist dollars - and time - are being poured into villages and communities near some of the country's most idyllic and romantic tourist locations.
A growing number of tourist operators near many of the palm-fringed holiday spots are diverting percentages of their income to help fund community and eco projects.
Fiji has long been a dream holiday destination for New Zealanders and its white sands and warm blue waters appear to becoming even more popular with Kiwis. Last year over 165,000 visited Fiji (source: Fiji Bureau of Statistics), a 17 per cent increase on the year before, second only to Australians as the most frequent visitors.
Sonya Lawson, Tourism Fiji's Regional Manager New Zealand, says the country - a favourite destination for families and couples wanting romantic time out - has some of the best resorts and tourist spots in the world and it is important it stays that way.
A visit to Fiji can be relaxing or high energy: "There are world-class luxury resorts for those seeking to unwind while adventure junkies can swim with manta rays, dive with sharks, dive at the Rainbow Reef and the Great White Wall (both included in the top 10 dive sites in the world by the US Divers Magazine) or play a round of golf."
Sustainable tourism is a central focus, she says: "For the locals, it means they maintain their identities with tourism as an added bonus rather than an imposition on their lives."
In the outlying Yasawa Islands - it has 19 resorts scattered throughout six main islands - a "voluntourism" programme has been established to help the 6000 people who live there.
Backed by a number of tourist companies - Awesome Adventures, Blue Lagoon Cruises and South Sea Cruises among them - the Vinaka Fiji Trust has set up programmes allowing travellers to combine holiday and work by assisting villagers with education, marine conservation and the development of sustainable agriculture practices.
"We want to make these islands a paradise for them too," says Elenoa Nimacere, the trust's operations manager. "It became obvious when the islands were opened up to tourists in the early 2000s that many on the islands lacked clean drinking water, education support and were faced with no sustainable way of life into the future."
The trust was established not only to formalise assistance already being given by Awesome Adventures but also to give travellers the opportunity to give back to locals.
Nimacere says about 2000 people a year take part in voluntourism, staying on average for about two weeks. Some sign up just to take part in the programmes, while others add it on before or after their trip.
"It is a win-win," says Nimacere. "Tourists get to enjoy the sun, sea and sand while helping out, but the locals also get huge benefit - I tell you, when we see water coming out of a tap, that is a real victory for us; it's about visitors going the extra mile."
Nimacere says one of the successes of the programme has been in teaching children to read: "When we started, up to 70 per cent of the island children could not read; now most can, although some are still slow."
Another company, Sigatoka river safari, estimates it has given $2.5 million ($NZ 1.6 million) over 10 years to help fund community projects administered by committees at 16 remote villages that dot the 120km river on Viti Levu.
The Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort has for almost eight years supported local communities via various voluntourism projects. Outrigger and their guests have built a new library, computer lab, meeting bure and kindergarten for the Sigatoka Valley Conua School and this year, guests are being invited to help build two new classrooms now the school has grown to 125 students and 25 kindergarten children.
The Uprising Beach and Volivoli resorts and Beqa Adventure Divers are among companies supporting a group called Mangroves for Fiji which carries out widespread mangrove planting, a key to protecting the coastline and its reefs from the effects of global warming, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Rivers Fiji, which runs white water rafting trips on the Upper Navua River on Fiji's main island of Viti Levu, has contributed more than $1.3 million since 2000 for the conservation of a 600-hectare block of lush rainforest along the riverbank.
In partnership with local landowners and a logging company, it established the Upper Navua Conservation Area along a stretch of the river used for the rafting. The zone prevents future logging and gravel extraction and is helping reduce the impact of soil run-off into the river and nearby coast.
In return the company compensates locals through lease payments, a percentage of user fees and job opportunities.
Director Kasi Taukeinitoro says Fiji is a small country with limited land: "We can't afford to throw our country away to unscrupulous development; we want to safeguard it for future generations."
Rivers Fiji were recognised for this work in 2015, named a finalist in the environmental category at the World Travel and Tourism Council's Tourism for Tomorrow Awards.
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