Swapping cocktails for conservation: Tourism Fiji reinvents happy hour
Happiness is in everything Fijians do, it is embedded in their culture. And so too is care for the environment.
So, in Tourism Fiji’s newest campaign via Havas, ‘happy hour’ is being redefined, encouraging travellers to give an hour of their time to the environment.
Swapping cocktails for conservation, the new campaign centres around the Fijian value of ‘Loloma’, meaning to act with generosity, driven by love. Loloma is deeply rooted in the Fijian way of life, as well as the care for the environment and culture.
It invites visitors to turn a portion of their holiday time into meaningful environmental and cultural action. Whether it be planting coral, restoring mangroves, or engaging in cultural traditions, the new happy hour — ‘Loloma Hour’ — makes it possible for them to leave a positive legacy.
The activities have been curated across four key pillars — wildlife, community, coastline, and reef — to appeal to a broad range of travellers, including families, young couples, solo travellers, and empty nesters.
The initiative has been designed to maximise engagement and uptake by making sustainable action simple, accessible, and fun. Tourism Fiji will measure the tangible impact through hours contributed to sustainability initiatives, with a launch target of over 5,000 Loloma Hours in year one.
Havas Host’s executive creative director, Sebastian Vizor, told Mumbrella the strategy is based on where this happiness comes naturally and how travellers can get involved and give back.
“If you’ve ever been to Fiji, everything’s happy hour,” he said. ” It’s a very prominent thing. But we thought that if you give up an hour to the environment, it makes the thing that makes Fiji so happy, continue to be happy.”
It positions Fiji as a proactive leader in sustainable tourism, as consumer demand continues to grow. According to a Booking.com report from 2024, 75% of global travellers have expressed a desire to travel more sustainably in the next 12 months.
“There’s a desire to give something back and not just take,” Vizor said. “There’s different layers [to sustainable travel], it’s not trying to turn everyone into eco-warriors… It’s about that saying, ‘take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints’.”
And with Loloma Hour, that desire is being made easily accessible and encouraged.
“Once a person does this, they’ll understand how that happiness comes naturally, you understand their way of life,” Vizor said. “So it’s not trying to be token, it’s trying to get an understanding and give back.”
The initiative also hopes to flip the script on traditional tourism offerings, according to Vizor.
“When you go to these usual tourist destinations, it’s all very contrived,” he said. “It’s put on for tourists, rather than encouraging them to join in and enjoy the essence of the place. So we wanted to get people involved in these things that are happening anyway, the things that Fijians are doing that brings them happiness.”
Tourism Fiji’s CMO, Srishti Narayan, said in a media release on Tuesday: “Loloma Hour shows it only takes a small amount of time to make a big difference.
“Over time, the potential multiplies. The more people who take part, the more powerful the ripple effect — both environmentally and culturally. But beyond the numbers, it’s about the quality of the experience. Loloma Hour offers travellers a way to connect more deeply with Fiji, to be part of something purposeful, and to leave with a story that goes beyond the typical souvenir.”
Travellers who want to do their part and learn at the same time can join activities such as guided nature walks, culture talks, Fijian language classes, mangrove and coral planting, giant clam cleaning, and fish house building, all made available across partner hotels and resorts, tourism operators and partners throughout Fiji.
At launch, there are 20 tourism operators offering over 40 activities.
The campaign will be pushed across social media to reach a global audience.
Along with the launch creative, Havas has facilitated a partnership with the BBC to reach travellers across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA with content highlighting Fiji’s sustainability efforts on Indigenous species conservation, cultural preservation, coral reef rehabilitation, and coastline protection.
Credits:
Client: Tourism Fiji
Creative: Havas Host
Media: Havas Media Network
Activation: Havas Play
Production: Creative 7 and Havas Host
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Lauren McNamara was the associate editor at Mumbrella. She joined in November 2022 as editorial assistant, after completing a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at UTS. She left Mumbrella in August 2025.
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topics
Campaign
Happiness
Happy Hour
Havas
Havas Host
Loloma
Loloma Hour
Sebastian Vizor
Srishti Narayan
sustainable travel
Tourism Fiji
travel
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