Bula
The big one on the front page of The Fiji Times for Tuesday, October 1 is about politics. Parliament has been relegated to a “Banana Parliament” by members who use unparliamentary and unacceptable language. This is the view of a very disappointed Mary Chapman, a former long serving secretary general to Parliament.
Ms Chapman was referring to crosstalk from the floors of Parliament yesterday where a Cabinet Minister called an Opposition MP a “murderer”. The MP immediately replied and labelled the minister a “chor”. Ms Chapman said such behaviour never used to happen during her days and would be nipped in the bud by the Speaker.
Synopsis
Getting our house in order!
So now that a call has been made by the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Police Force to active its tourism unit in Nadi, let’s talk about this!
According to the chamber, it comes in the wake of complaints by tourists of harassment in Nadi Town.
The chamber said the demand by members has been sparked by numerous social media postings by disgruntled tourists who have had bad experiences in Nadi.
Chamber president Dr Ram Raju said such posts were a wakeup call and were detrimental to the image of Nadi as a tourist town.
Many tourists, he said, found it inconvenient to lodge police complaints considering the process which, for some, surpassed their stay in Fiji.
We agree with him that as stakeholders, we have a part to play. That means being proactive and taking steps to avoid such incidents in the future.
It means looking to the police to be engaged, and this should be reflected on beat patrols!
As the chamber connects with the police to work out a solution, we suggest awareness campaigns, roping in communities and other stakeholders, and discussing the important role we can play to protect the industry.
We all must know about the positive roll-on effects of a strong and vibrant tourism industry.
We should be aware of the positive impact it has on associated industries, and the impact on the domestic economy.
In August this year, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Viliame Gavoka announced that Fiji was on track to welcome a million visitors to our shores this year. It was great news.
He spoke about “our brand message, ‘Where happiness comes naturally’”.
Key source markets for Fiji have remained Australia and New Zealand with significant growth coming from North America.
To hit a million visitors will mean a number of things will have to happen.
It will mean more rooms, positive employment figures, and a boost to the economy.
The challenge now is to ensure we have the processes that will allow this to happen, and that all stakeholders are engaged and part of the bigger plan to ensure our visitors enjoy their stay here and choose to return.
Our success will depend on how we look after our visitors, to compel them to spread the word about our home and encourage them to return!
The call for action from the chamber is not just about addressing complaints; it’s about revitalizing our commitment to creating a safe and enjoyable experience for visitors. By working together, we can transform Nadi into a beacon of hope for the industry, that attracts visitors from around the world.
