ONE week away from the 2025 Fiji Tourism Expo and Tourism Super Week kicked off in Nadi yesterday with small community tourist-based operators learning about new opportunities to grow their businesses.
Opening the event at the Sheraton Resort and Spa in Denarau, Minister for Tourism Viliame Gavoka said shared experiences would be key to ensuring each sector within the industry benefited and grew successfully.
“We are gathered here far more powerful than professional obligation,” said Mr Gavoka.
“Under this year’s theme, “Veisolisoli for Success, Sharing Knowledge, Building Futures”, this ancient wisdom is now our modern competitive edge.
“What truly sets Fiji apart in this crowded global market lives in the human moments we create. When a veteran hotelier advises a village homestay operator, when international investors learn from local artisans, when every visitor becomes part of our extended family through the genuine care we show.”
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association (FHTA) CEO Fantasha Lockington said the event presented not only an opportunity for SMEs to learn from industry experts but to also identify gaps and how they could be filled.
“For instance, one of the things that we are pushing for and the whole reason that Tourism Fiji is pushing this week is that we need to be able to showcase a lot of what is already out there,” Ms Lockington said.
“Whether that is bringing people to understand a little bit more the cultures that are available to see in Fiji that we can share, sharing our land, our people’s joy in being here and how we can shape that into what is all about experiences in Fiji.
“People are not about getting on a plane and coming to stay in a hotel.
“They are coming because they want to see what Fiji has to offer in terms of its experiences, adventures and activities can only be showcased in the best possible light by our own people.”
