THE tourism industry in Pacific Harbour is looking forward to a well-earned New Year's drink this year.
With service being the foundation of the hospitality business, it was no picnic this year.
Cyclone Mick did its worst with damage to the Serua/Namosi region estimated at $5million, mostly to smallholder farmers.
Baka trees, some older than the Pacific Harbour and Deuba settlements, were tossed around like matchsticks.
But resorts provided almost uninterrupted service to their guests.
In only a couple of cases did the visitors realise that the local community was deprived of water and electricity.
That was because of smart planning and skilled staff.
One resort owner went to the trouble of transporting over 20 Hong Kong visitors to Suva so that they would not be inconvenienced by the water shortage.
The management of the Uprising Resort called in all available staff to ensure the clean-up was completed in the shortest possible time. As a result, everything was back to normal in no time.
The Adventure Capital of Fiji remained just that, with uninterrupted diving trips off Lagoon Resort.
Most of the other attractions were back in action within a few hours of Mick departing our shores.
The famous Fiji smile was there in spite of it all.
