Fiji's New Loloma Hour, for Sustainability and for Happiness

Forbes

07-04-2025

Earth Hour was March 28, 2025, and Earth Day is April 22, 2025. Launching in between these two dates—on April 7, 2025—is Fiji's new Loloma Hour, a practice encouraged for every visitor to Fiji's 333 islands on any day of the year.
Taveuni Island, Somosomo Strait, Pacific Ocean, Fiji Islands.
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Tourism Fiji created the new Loloma Hour to help the country achieve its sustainability goals. In Fiji, 'loloma' is all about love, generosity and the act of giving. Fiji's new Loloma Hour is about embracing these concepts, giving back to Fiji in a meaningful way, and about the care that Fijians have for each other, for the ocean and for their islands.
Snorkeling at Barefoot Manta Island, Fiji.
Thomas Vignaud
The goal of Loloma Hour is to preserve the natural beauty and cultural heritage of Fiji while amplifying sustainability efforts—especially important in a country where the tourism sector makes up almost 40 percent of the economy.
Loloma Hour has four pillars:
There's sure to be an activity related to at least one of these pillars that inspires every visitor to Fiji.
More and more people are looking for purpose-driven and meaningful travel—they want their visits to help make destinations better (or at least not worse) and want to give back in a meaningful way. Initiatives like Loloma Hour help travelers choose destinations and activities where they can contribute in ways they know are helpful. While sustainability and the natural environment are important, responsible travel is also about protecting cultural heritage, ensuring local economies thrive, making connections with the people who live in the places we visit, and doing so in ways that local residents welcome.
Throwing a fishing net, Vanua Levu, Fiji.
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Loloma Hour, says Brent Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Fiji, is 'a way for visitors to experience the Fijian spirit of generosity while leaving a lasting contribution to the destination.' He explains that central to Fijian culture are the values of family, sharing, connection, community, generosity, gratitude, and respect for nature. Loloma and Loloma Hour emphasize the act of giving. A related word in Fiji is 'solesolevaki'—the concept of everyone coming together for a common cause in the spirit of generosity and giving. Both are central to the Fijian way of life and why Fiji is favored by so many travelers.
Earth Hour 2023: Planet Earth with sunlight in dark space (elements of this image furnished by NASA).
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Sustainability initiatives like Loloma Hour and Earth Hour can make a big difference. The World Wildlife Fund initiated Earth Hour in 2007 in Sydney as a means to increase understanding of climate change initially in Australia. Now international, Earth Hour has broader goals of encouraging both community and individual actions to achieve a better and more sustainable future for everyone.
Endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, Kratie, Cambodia.
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It's not just a symbolic turning off your lights for an hour either. Earth Hour initiatives help protect the planet's biodiversity. People from 118 countries and territories participated in Earth Hour 2025 events and contributed almost three million hours, doubling 2024's 1.4 million hours. This year's Earth Hour activities included tree planting, single-use plastic reduction campaigns, and specific initiatives like fundraising for critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River and a cleanup in the Cambodian stretches of the river. Achievements from previous Earth Hour activities include the creation of the world's first Earth Hour Forest in Uganda, the tripling of Argentina's protected waters with the creation of the Banco Namuncurá marine protected area, and the classification of five million square kilometers as a marine protected area in French Polynesia.
Visitors to Fiji are invited to contribute an hour during their visit toward any of the four Loloma Hour pillars—giving back to the community, coastline, reef or wildlife. More than likely, you'll choose an activity that contributes to more than one and you'll end up giving back for more than an hour since the activities are also enjoyable.
Coral planting in FIji at Vatuvara Private Island
Vatuvara Foundation
More than 20 tourism partners—hotels, tour operators, private islands, Captain Cook Cruises Fiji and even a floating bar called Seventh Heaven—are participating in Loloma Hour at its launch on April 7, 2025. Chances are, your hotel will be offering an activity which makes it easy to contribute a Loloma Hour, all while having fun and learning about Fiji during your vacation.
Fijian Crested Iguana, Kula Eco Park, Coral Coast, Viti Levu, Fiji.
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At Six Senses Fiji, for example, guests can contribute to the conservation of critically endangered Fijian Crested Iguanas. On Malolo Island, the largest of the 20 Mamanuca Islands, Six Senses Fiji has more than doubled their population of the critically endangered reptiles and expanded their territory in their Iguana Reserve.
Giving back to the coastline in the form of mangrove planting is a Loloma Hour experience at Shangri-La Yanuca Island, Fiji. This Coral Coast island resort is connected to Fiji's largest island, Viti Levu, by a causeway. Here, guests can help plant mangrove trees, which are essential for stabilizing shorelines and for supporting juvenile marine life and birds.
Other resorts participating in Loloma Hour include VOMO Island Fiji and Kokomo Private Island; Wakaya Club & Spa where protecting manta rays, coral restoration and organic farming are important; and Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort Fiji in Savusavu (known as Fiji's Hidden Paradise), where 99% of the staff are from nearby villages and local communities are actively involved in the resort's environmental stewardship and cultural preservation initiatives.
Bula! Fijian greeting, Nanuya Lailai Island, Yasawa Islands, Fiji.
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To visit Fiji as a tourist, you'll need a passport that's valid for at least six months beyond your intended dates of stay, a return flight (or ticket onward), and—unless you're from a country that is exempt—a pre-approved visa. Currently, you're exempt from needing a tourist visa for Fiji if you're a passport holder from the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, most of the European Union, Australia or New Zealand.
Countries with direct flights to Fiji include the United States (from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, and Dallas), Canada (from Vancouver), Australia and New Zealand.
Whenever you go in Fiji, aim to experience loloma and happiness during your Fijian visit. Perhaps you'll contribute a Loloma Hour every day and come home having absorbed some of Fiji's famous happiness.
'True happiness comes not just from what you take, but what you give,' says Srishti Narayan, Tourism Fiji's Chief Marketing Officer. 'Loloma Hour gives visitors a chance to help preserve what makes Fiji so special—its people, environment, and traditions.'
How will you contribute your Loloma Hour?
Fijian family, Savusavu, Fiji.
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