Oceania Travel Guide

The best sources for data about the specific island countries are their tourist information offices.

A good source for general information is the South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO), P.O. Box 13119, Suva, Fiji Islands (tel. 679/330-4177; fax 679/330-1995; www.spto.org).

Another general source is the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), an industry trade association based in Bangkok, Thailand. It has a North American office in the Latham Square Building, 1611 Telegraph Ave., Suite 1515, Oakland, CA 94612 (tel. 510/625-2055; fax 510/625-2044; www.pata.org).

The U.S. Department of State maintains a Travel Advisory (tel. 202/647-5225; http://travel.state.gov) to keep you abreast of political or other problems throughout the world and posts travel warnings and other timely information on its website, www.travel.state.gov.

The East-West Center at the University of Hawaii gathers news from throughout the islands on its Pacific Islands Report website, http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport. It's the best single source for breaking news stories, and it has links to newspapers, news services, universities, and other useful sites.

Another useful site for regional news is posted by the Fiji-based Pacific Magazine (www.pacificmagazine.net).