Fiji’s tourism and travel sectors are poised for significant growth in the medium to long term, with visitor arrivals projected to increase by 6.3 per cent to 990,000 by year-end, just shy of the one million mark.

Westpac Fiji senior economist Shamal Chand said the upcoming 13-hour non-stop flight between Fiji and Dallas in the US, set to begin in December, opened a whole new range of opportunities for the tourism sector.

He said that route was expected to bring approximately 1000 additional passengers a week.

He added the national airline was also exploring new routes to further expand its growth prospects.

“Despite the good news, Fiji’s high reliance on the tourism sector is concerning, as evidenced by the drastic contraction during the pandemic years when the economy shrank to three-quarters of its usual size,” Mr Chand said in the Westpac Fiji quarterly economic update released this week.

“Despite this, last year’s record growth, or rather recovery, was driven by tourism highlighting the sector’s dual role as both a boon and a vulnerability.

“Discussions on economic diversification surged and then quickly faded as the pandemic’s impacts waned and tourism rebounded.”

Mr Chand said the tourism sector was undergoing a fundamental shift, with new markets being targeted while traditional partners remained the industry’s backbone.

“Future growth in tourism will depend not only on expanding capacity but also on reaching beyond our traditional markets and targeting high value tourists.”

Mr Chand cited the World Travel and Tourism Council’s figures of the global travel and tourism industry projected to grow from $11.1trillion to $16.0trillion over the next decade, and employing around 450 million people worldwide.

He said that would mean the sector could account for more than 10 per cent of global output by 2034.

“With the anticipated rise in travel demand, Fiji can capture a larger share of this market by expanding its capacity over the next decade, especially since it currently attracts less than 0.04 per cent of global tourist numbers.”