Apia, December 10, 2020: Temperatures are rising around Upolu with the Rock the Coast Event in full swing at participating properties along the coast of Upolu featuring live music and specials on food, beverage and accommodation for locals to enjoy.
The musical festival spans over 6 weeks and is an initiative by the Samoa Tourism Authority to help participating coastline hotels attract local visitor traffic over the weekends by sponsoring top notch musical acts to perform for an evening event at their property.
Last weekend, Sinalei Resort hosted the third weekend of Rock the Coast featuring live music from Poly Flavour in a beach party setting attended by guests and visitors alike who enjoyed
the festive evening under a setting sun.
Sinalei Resort Marketing Manager, Nelson Annandale said he was pleased with the turn out and reported that the resort was fully booked out for the weekend.
“This has been a really great initiative by the Samoa Tourism Authority, our guests really enjoyed themselves and I thought it was a good turnout.” he said.
Rock the Coast opened on November 20th at Le Vasa Resort and owner Soraya May says the Friday evening was well attended by many happy locals who welcomed a night out to enjoy high quality entertainment by popular music group, Rubber Band.
“We have been doing siva socials for a while now and they’ve been popular so when we were notified by Samoa Tourism about Rock the Coast, we got on to it straight away because the biggest cost about these events is always the band.” said Soraya. “We’re also very fortunate we got the band we wanted from the list they provided because Mautoatasi Asuao, from the Rubber Band sings lots of love songs and our crowd absolutely loves their music.”
Soraya says she hopes Samoa Tourism continues to support similar events around Samoa while borders remain closed given that the spending habits of the domestic market are shifting and would give people opportunities to support their local district businesses.
“This was really an advantage for locals in our area because they didn’t have to struggle to think about how to get home and they didn’t have to spend money on buses or taxis to and from Apia town,” she said. “We’ve noticed people are saving for events and it makes more sense because understandably money is limited and people are planning things more. Events build excitement for people because they can plan for something ahead of time.”
Samoa Tourism provided additional support with promotional campaigns and they are continuing to provide live feeds on the day through their social media platforms, which Soraya says is proving to be a very valuable marketing tool in reaching both domestic and international tourism markets.
Tomorrow (Saturday) Rock the Coast will continue the party anthem in Apia town at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel featuring music from On Fire Band before passing the torch over to Taufua Beach Fales the following Saturday where Rubber Band will take the stage.
From the south-east to the north-west, Rock the Coast Festival will close the curtain on the 6 week concert series with a final performance by Poly Flavour at Sheraton Samoa Beach Resort in Mulifanua on Wednesday, 23rd December.
