YACHTING has created a healthy environment for upskilling Fijian labour, says a report on the Economic Impact of International Yachting in Fiji.
It said the growth of yachting in Fiji and its unique position in the Pacific had created significant demand for yacht maintenance and support services.
It was also highlighted that these services required a higher level of skill than other forms of tourism and resulted in the development of a specialised and skilled workforce with formal and informal training of labour being driven by the need for yacht service suppliers to bring their competitiveness up to international levels.
The report was produced in collaboration between AMSTEC Pty Ltd, Port Denarau Marina, Vuda Marina and the Fiji office of Australian Aid-funded Market Development Facility.
The report said as a result, labour in the Fijian yacht service industry was generally on higher wage rates than other areas of tourism (and significantly higher than minimum wage).
During structured interviews, several businesses expressed their concern about losing skilled staff and their commitment to retaining their staff through higher pay and ongoing training.
This development of a highly skilled workforce in yachting will have broader impacts on the Fijian economy as these workers migrate into other sectors.
While there are many strengths associated with the industry, the report also highlighted some major weaknesses that could have an adverse effect on the industry.
Some of the weaknesses highlighted include:
- Protracted arrival clearance formalities for foreign flagged yachts;
- Lack of formal training and accreditation of workers for the yacht tourism sector — some experiences of poor quality work;
- Protracted maritime infrastructure investment procedures; and
- Lack of high profile peak body representing yachting.
Some of the opportunities that the economy could gain from include
- Improving the understanding of the Fiji ‘yachting product’ to attract longer stays;
- Capitalise on private sector and Government willingness to support and invest in new yachting infrastructure;
- Raise government awareness and support for the positive impacts of yachting;
- Lau as international port of entry for clearances; and,
- Investigate the potential for more bareboat yacht charter — getting a yacht to Fiji is a major investment in time and money.
The report showed there were some threats to the industry with increasing competition in yacht tourism from other Pacific island markets being the major threat.
The report also highlighted the limited government support to investments for yachting tourism, unutilised potential of some yacht cruising areas and poor quality navigation charts as some of the threats to the industry.
