Despite challenges posed by COVID-19, the Beqa Lagoon Resort is trying to retain its over one hundred staff.

Reservations Clerk, Vasiti Ratulevu says none of the staff have lost their job however are working on reduced hours.

Ratulevu says they’re working on a rotational basis and work for four hours a week.

She adds that while the pandemic has had an adverse effect, it has also been a learning curve.

“I think COVID has been a big learning experience for us because it has got us back to planting, farming so most of the villages have gone back and started farming, planting and fishing. So we have been fortunate that we have the land and we have the sea so we have been farming and fishing.”

The Beqa Lagoon Resort is famous for shark diving and Ratulevu says they were fully booked until 2022.

She hopes they will be able to retain all the bookings when the borders open up again.

The resort has started to accommodate local visitors to cushion the effects of the pandemic.