Ghaseali Island Resort is family run business located on a beautiful lagoon on Santa Isabel Island, in the Solomon Islands.
In 2020, it received a BLP Grant in 2020 for digital marketing support. “The timing was just right,” says Diana Rojumana, who runs the business with her husband and children.
“We had just opened the resort in July 2020 – at the height of Covid. The resort received a BLP grant for small indigenous tourist operators, a grant that was available at this time. “From there it has helped us a lot. I was able to pay for professional digital creators. They came and did a lot of video clips and we were able to put them online.”
“It was very challenging at that time. We had just finished the building infrastructure. We couldn’t do much with the travel ban but then when the government lifted the ban, we got a trickle of business travellers coming and then we started to market online. We started to build a strong base of clients.”
“We have become a household name in the district and in Honiara as well” says Diana Rojumana, who owns and runs the business with her husband and children.
“BLP support has helped us a lot. BLP helped us complete the grant application and guided us to the right advisor to help us digitally. It enabled us to get professional digital creator support.”
“Alex Waimora deployed his team who came out to the Resort and shot video clips, which we put online. It helped us establish a strong social media profile on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube It’s then that the resort really took off.”
The resort has become a popular destination particularly for corporate guests with its stunning lagoon outlook, 20 x self-contained air-conditioned rooms, a restaurant, a bar and a conference room. The business has seven permanent staff and extra casual staff in busy times. The resorts main season is from April to November.
“Now we have expanded our client base. We have loyal customers. Good advertisements. We have wider awareness of our business in our market through digital development. We have also got different range of clients now, expanding our business more into corporate clients. These customers are mostly NGOs, Government and private businesses.
Talking about climate resilience, Diana says “As the resort is located right on the lagoon, we built a substantial sea wall, and this protects the two main buildings along the shoreline.” Without that we would have the coastline really coming up. This has protected us from erosion. We were able to get some funding from government to help us complete it.”
What she loves about the business is two-fold. “I love meeting people, making new friends and establish new networks. What I really love is that the business has helped me give back to my community and get involved in community activities. If I didn’t have the business, my focus wouldn’t be that way. Getting myself involved with the women is what I really love.”
“I’m currently involved with two groups. The first one is a conservation group, Sasari Thogha Conservation Group, who run birding tours in the conserved area. We help them market their business.”
The second group Diana works with is a women’s life skills group with Kubolota women. “I’ve been partnering with them to help them find markets for their product. I work to empower them to get a sustainable income by selling their jewellery and traditional arts and crafts. It’s about creating, preserving, and transferring knowledge of traditional weaving and crafting. It celebrates cultural heritage, empowers local artisans and fosters sustainable income and tourism.”
Looking ahead, their long-term goal is to build another 40 rooms so they can cater to larger groups. Diana says they are hoping to build their client base with international guests.
BLP facilitates access to business advisory services and financial support. To start your journey with BLP, you can self-assess your needs by using the free online tools available to help small- and medium-sized businesses diagnose areas in their businesses that an advisor could improve.
The first step can be the online Business Health Check. You can also check your business’s resilience to respond to crises or climate change challenges on the Business Continuity Planner and the Climate Action Sensor. If you prefer to meet a local BLP representative in person to discuss your business, get in touch with our local partners to arrange a face-to-face Diagnostic.