Planning a South Pacific Holiday Around the 2018 School Holidays

With winter approaching, the 2018 New Zealand School Holidays are a double edged sword: A period to plan for, and a period to plan around.  It's important to know when the School Holidays are, and we also share some insight into how to find a South Pacific Island holiday during these traditionally busy times.   2018 School Holidays

The Ministry of Education website lists the 2018 school holidays as:

• Saturday 7 July to Sunday 22 July 18
• Saturday 29 September to Sunday 14 October 18

The July school holidays fall in winter and they are just around the corner.  The September / October school holidays are in Spring, but that can be a time of year that is still somewhat unsettled and can lead to those thoughts of "I wish I had booked that holiday".

What About the Australian School Holidays?

Australian school holidays will also have an impact on prices and the availability of holiday accommodation in the South Pacific.  Each Australian State / Territory has its own school holiday timetable which can be found on the Tourism Australia website.  The main dates to keep in mind in July are:

• New South Wales: 7 July to 22 July
• Queensland: 30 June to 15 July
• South Australia: 7 July to 22 July
• Victoria: 30 June to 15 July

And for later in the year:

• New South Wales: 29 September to 14 October
• Queensland: 22 September to 7 October
• South Australia: 29 September to 14 October
• Victoria: 22 September to 7 October

How to Find Your Pacific Island Holiday

We often see two challenges when a family is trying to organise a holiday:

1. Finding a suitable property that has availability.
2. Having confidence that you're getting a price you're happy with.

When time is short, and with the holidays fast approaching, these are two areas where we can help.  As an independent travel agency, Fine Travel has the flexibility to work with major International and New Zealand travel wholesale partners such as Expedia, Bookings.com, Infinity Holidays (owned by Flight Centre) and GO Holidays (owned by HelloWorld).  These relationships allow us to:

1. Compare prices between wholesalers and consolidators.
2. Access special offers and bonus inclusions.
3. Search for room availability that one wholesaler may be holding when another may have sold out.
4. Consult reviews (such as from Trip Advisor) and other "Travel Agent only" review services.

When it comes to popular destinations like Fiji, Rarotonga and Hawaii, these options can be the difference between a quick phone call or email to your Fine Travel Consultant, or hours comparing different websites and different travel agencies yourself.