Welcome to Samoa Pocket Guide, your ultimate travel companion for exploring the captivating landscapes, vibrant waters and rich culture of Samoa. Founded by Robin and Laura, Samoa Pocket Guide is a labour of love and passion for sharing the hidden gems of this stunning region.
Robin and Laura, alongside a team of dedicated travel writers, spearhead our efforts to provide travellers with a comprehensive and authentic travel guide. Their experience extensively travelling Samoa, combined with an honorary journalism background, brings a wealth of knowledge and insights to our platform.
At Samoa Pocket Guide, we’re not chasing likes or superficial trends on social media. Instead, our mission is anchored in delivering factual and insightful information derived from rigorous research, firsthand experiences and unwavering journalistic integrity. We’re committed to assisting travellers from all backgrounds in meticulously planning their journey to Samoa, going beyond the allure of pretty photos to offer practical guidance.
Our core values form the foundation of our work:
- Empowering Local Tourism Businesses: We strive to uplift and promote local tourism enterprises, advertisers or not, recognising their invaluable contributions to Samoa.
- Comprehensive Representation: We present travellers with a comprehensive overview of tourism operators and accommodations, ensuring travellers have access to diverse options that suit their preferences and needs.
- Inclusivity: Our platform caters to travellers, no matter your nationality and socio-economic background, providing a range of options to facilitate enjoyable experiences for all.
- Informed Decision-Making: We empower travellers to make informed decisions by offering transparent and unbiased information, enabling them to craft personalised itineraries that align with their interests.
- Sustainable Travel: We advocate for a positive relationship between travellers and destinations, emphasising the importance of environmental conservation and social responsibility in travel experiences.
More about our editorial standards can be viewed on Our Standards Page.
© SamoaPocketGuide.comAbout Laura (Editor-in-Chief)
Laura is a distinguished first-class honours journalism graduate whose passion for travel and in-depth knowledge of Samoa and South Pacific tourism span over a decade. As a seasoned travel journalist, she brings a wealth of expertise to Samoa Pocket Guide. In addition, Laura has personally tried, tested and/or conducted site visits to more than 200 of Samoa’s activities, accommodations and eateries.
In addition to her role as co-founder of Samoa Pocket Guide, Laura serves as the editor-in-chief for five other South Pacific countries, further showcasing her breadth of experience and understanding of the region’s diverse landscapes and cultures. Despite her origins in the UK, Laura has a deep-rooted connection to the South Pacific, where she has resided for more than a decade.
© SamoaPocketGuide.comAbout Robin (Operations Manager)
Robin is the driving force behind the operational excellence of Samoa Pocket Guide, serving as the operations manager and orchestrating a seamless collaboration with a team of web developers to create a user-friendly online travel guide experience, as well as liaising with the tourism industry to ensure accurate and up-to-date information across the platform.
As a co-founder of Samoa Pocket Guide, Robin’s contributions extend beyond operational tasks; having spearheaded Samoa Pocket Guide’s sponsorship of the South Pacific Tourism Exchange for five years (and counting), and personally providing web- and in-person seminars through SPTO and local DMOs to help the South Pacific tourism industry market their offering.
His role in co-founding three influential tourism businesses and developing five additional travel guides for South Pacific nations underscores his commitment to promoting sustainable and enriching travel experiences for both travellers and tourism operators.
The Story of Samoa Pocket Guide
Our labour of love began in 2014 with a clear mission: to sustainably guide travellers across the South Pacific. Here’s our journey:
- 2014-18: Launch of NZ Pocket Guide and Fiji Pocket Guide – Our first South Pacific Pocket Guides
- NZ Pocket Guide, formerly BackpackerGuide.NZ, was our first travel guide created for the South Pacific.
- We focused on sustainability and low impact from the outset.
- The site grew rapidly, reaching over 250,000 travellers in the first year, defying our expectations and showing a working proof of concept that could be applied to smaller South Pacific regions.
- With this shift in focus, Laura went from solely creating content to building a flexible travel writing team and a fact-based editorial line. In the meantime, Robin got a web-dev team together to expand our travel guide expertise beyond New Zealand.
- We launched Fiji Pocket Guide, expanding our reach to other Pacific nations.
Our journey continued with a focus on partnership and local engagement:
- 2019-2020: Local Partnerships and COVID Adaptation
- This was the first year (of many!) we partnered with the SPTO to promote sustainable tourism in the Pacific.
- We launched Niue Pocket Guide and Tonga Pocket Guide in collaboration with local governments.
- We ran small-scale sustainable tourism programs which were incredibly fulfilling in Tonga and Niue.
- COVID-19 hit so we updated our content to reflect the changing landscapes of travel during the pandemic.
Skipping to post-pandemic and looking to the future, we’ve not slowed down, continuing to share the beauty of the Pacific:
- 2022, 2023, 2024 and beyond: Launch of Samoa Pocket Guide and Continuous Engagement
- Working with the Samoa Tourism Authority, we conducted our first extensive on-the-ground research, covering both Upolu and Savai’i.
- We launched Samoa Pocket Guide and Cook Islands Pocket Guide.
- Continued on-the-ground research was conducted to provide updates to our guides in Fiji, Niue, Tonga and, of course, Samoa.
- Some of our team gained international certifications in drone piloting and scuba diving to provide more unique perspectives on our travel coverage.
And of course, we are looking forward to more adventures and guides in the coming years.
Whether you’re an adventure seeker, a nature enthusiast, a cultural explorer or simply seeking a tranquil retreat, Samoa Pocket Guide is your biggest source of Samoa trip-planning information with more than 400 articles. Join us in creating meaningful connections between travellers and this breathtaking destination while fostering a sustainable and enriching travel experience for everyone.
To become a contributor, advertise or provide feedback, please refer to our Contact Page.