With exactly 100 days to go until the opening whistle on 15 October 2026, the Rugby League World Cup has picked up a heavyweight regional backer: Bank South Pacific, the largest bank in the Pacific, has signed on as a major sponsor of RLWC26.

For travellers, the more interesting detail is where the tournament touches down. Five South Pacific nations are sending teams to the month-long competition — Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga — and PNG is the only Pacific country actually hosting matches. Port Moresby's Santos National Football Stadium will stage games on 17 and 24 October, with the Kumuls facing Lebanon and Samoa in the men's tournament, while the PNG women's side takes on France and Fiji.

BSP's involvement is more than a logo on a shirt. The bank, which traces its PNG roots back to 1916 and now serves around three million customers across seven countries, plans a marketing campaign and events across all its markets to pull local communities into the tournament build-up. Group CEO Mark Robinson framed it as backing a platform that unites the region, and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo called the Pacific one of rugby league's great success stories, pointing to the rise of Pacific nations on the international stage.

Why should a holidaymaker care? Because a World Cup match in Port Moresby is a rare, high-energy reason to visit a country that sees few casual tourists. October sits in PNG's drier window, and the city will be buzzing with fans from Lebanon, Samoa, Fiji and France alongside passionate home crowds — a genuinely electric atmosphere in a stadium famous for its intensity. Pair a match weekend with nearby draws like the Varirata National Park lookout or a dive trip off the coast, and you've got a trip few others will have. The Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga aren't hosting games, but their squads' campaigns give the whole South Pacific a reason to celebrate through October and into November.

The tournament also matters for the region's travel industry: an influx of regional fans means fuller flights and hotels in Port Moresby on those two October weekends, so anyone set on attending should book early rather than assume last-minute availability.

Full details in Matangi Tonga.