One brief, written once, reaching every relevant supplier in the directory — and coming back as quotes you can actually line up against each other. That last part is the point. The problem with sourcing a Fiji event is not finding suppliers; it is that thirty suppliers answer thirty different questions and none of the replies compare.
This page explains the mechanics: what a comparable quote looks like, what the directory does before you brief anyone, and what the concierge deliberately does not do.
What actually goes wrong without it?
Three things, in order of how much time they cost.
You brief the wrong number of categories. A Fiji event is assembled from about 32 supplier categories. Most planners brief four or five and let a resort coordinator fill the gaps — which means the gaps get filled by whoever the resort already uses. The full list is in from makeup to AV: everything you can book through one brief.
You brief them at different times, with different information. The florist gets a guest count of 80 in March and the caterer gets 95 in May. Both quotes are wrong.
The replies do not compare. This is the expensive one. Three caterers quote per head, per platter and as a package. Two venues quote net, one quotes "++" without saying which plusses. One AV company includes crew days and one does not. You end up choosing on presentation rather than price.
What makes a Fiji quote comparable?
Six fields. Insist on all six from every supplier, and a spreadsheet becomes possible.
| Field | Why | What goes wrong without it |
|---|---|---|
| Net rate, itemised per line | Room hire, catering, AV, transfers each separately | A single total hides where the money is |
| Service charge, shown separately with its percentage | It is commercial, not statutory | It gets read as tax and left un-negotiated |
| Each statutory levy, named, with its rate | VAT at 12.5%; Tourism Services Tax at 5% from 1 September 2026; ECAL at 5% for larger providers | "++" means different things at different properties |
| Currency — FJD | Contracts are in Fiji dollars | An NZD quote hides an FX assumption you did not make |
| Quote date and how long it holds | Rates move seasonally | You negotiate against a number that has expired |
| Unit of measure | Per head, per vehicle, per platter, per day | Ground transport is priced per vehicle, and this is where budgets break |
The levy question is the one worth pushing hardest on, because public sources do not resolve whether Fiji's levies stack — the range is 17.5% or 22.5% depending on the reading. We set both out in VAT, service charge and levies on a Fiji event invoice. Ask every supplier for a worked example on your own numbers.
Guideline only on the tax position. Confirm with the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service or a Fiji adviser before contracting.
What does the directory do before you brief anyone?
It checks that the business exists and that the record matches the business's own website rather than an aggregator's copy of it. That sounds unremarkable until you have spent a week chasing three suppliers who closed in 2019.
Each directory record carries the business's own website, its location and its service areas, so you can look at a supplier before you brief them — Encore Event Technologies Fiji for AV, TEWAKA Fiji for ground and DMC work, Rosie Holidays for inbound, Chefs Catering Fiji for catering, Ocean Studio Fiji for photography. Where we hold venue capacities, they come from the venue's own published figures, and where two sources disagree we publish both and say so. That method is set out in how MICE Fiji verifies a listing and the reasoning behind it in why we publish capacities, prices and policies others hide.
Suppliers can claim and manage their own listing, which is how records stay current between our own checks.
How do you write a brief that can actually be answered?
Eight items. Anything less and you will get a brochure instead of a quote.
- Dates, including whether they are fixed or flexible.
- Headcount, stated as confirmed and expected — two numbers, not one.
- The precinct or venue, and if you know it, the exact space. Briefing a venue without naming the space is how groups end up in a room with pillars.
- The shape of the programme — days, nights, and which meals and sessions you need.
- What you are asking them to quote, scoped tightly enough to be comparable.
- The unit you want it in — per head, per vehicle, per day.
- Your budget range, in FJD. A range gets a real quote.
- A reply-by date, the same one for every supplier in the category.
Then send the identical brief to three suppliers per category. For the conference version, how to brief a Fiji DMC and get comparable quotes goes deeper; for weddings, the supplier brief template is a page you can copy.
What does this not do?
Worth stating plainly, because a sourcing platform that oversells itself wastes your time.
It does not set prices. Every rate you receive is the supplier's, negotiated between you and them. We publish what suppliers publish; we do not have a rate sheet.
It does not replace a DMC or a PCO on a complex programme. If you are moving 300 delegates across three properties with permits, a wet-weather plan and a gala, you need someone on the ground who is accountable for delivery. The brief gets you comparable quotes; a DMC gets you an event. Do you need a DMC in Fiji? answers that honestly, including the cases where you do not.
It does not hold your money. Deposits and payments go to the supplier, on the supplier's terms. Read those terms — Fiji deposit and cancellation structures vary more than most markets, as Fiji wedding deposits and cancellation terms sets out.
It does not guarantee availability. No directory can. A supplier holds a date when a deposit lands, not when an enquiry arrives.
Why one brief rather than one call?
Because a call is not comparable. What you remember from a phone conversation is confidence, not content, and confidence is the thing you least want to be buying. A written brief with a written reply gives you a document you can put beside two other documents — and it gives the supplier something they can price accurately without guessing what you meant.
It is also faster for them. A supplier who receives a brief with the dates, the headcount, the space and the budget range can quote the same day. A supplier who receives "hi, do you do weddings in Fiji?" cannot.
The verdict
Write the brief once, with the eight items. Send it to three suppliers per category with the same reply-by date. Demand the six comparability fields in every reply. Then normalise the quotes onto one sheet before you look at any total.
That sequence removes most of the guesswork from sourcing a Fiji event, and it is most of what this platform is for.
Next step
Start with how to source everything for a Fiji event in one place, then work through the category list in from makeup to AV. Browse the whole directory of Fiji's event and wedding industry, check venue numbers on the capacity charts, and shortlist from properties like Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort. Everything about one-stop sourcing sits in the hub.
