It’s great that we are already talking about billions of dollars in tourism!
It’s the way to go!
Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill reckons tourism in Fiji is a $1billion opportunity over the next four years.
Now that’s quite a large figure we are talking about!
Add to that the commitment to pave the way for us to eventually welcome 1.1 million visitors to Fiji by the end of 2027!
Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition (AHICE) Investment in Tourism Summit in Nadi last week, Mr Hill said we’ve got four years to basically sort ourselves out.
“So, we believe that by the end of 2027, we can have essentially 1.1 million visitors coming to Fiji. And our visitor economy level grown by a billion from $3.3b to $4.3b,” he said.
Sure we can talk about such big figures!
Sure, we can forecast positive growth!
The hard work though must start happening now!
Any rise in figures must be accompanied by appropriate growth across many platforms.
That means embracing the need for seats on aircraft.
That will mean consideration of flights and destinations.
It will mean an arrival concourse that is able to handle a great surge in visitor arrivals.
And subsequently that will mean beds to cater for any rise in numbers.
So it is encouraging to note there are 10 projects under construction right now.
“The Minister of Tourism has been on record saying we need 5000 rooms, and that’s really important for us to continue to grow so that we have new stories to tell,” Mr Hill said.
We need that. A positive roll-on impact of that would be in employment opportunities in the construction industry. Any addition to rooms will mean associated opportunities to look after them, and that means more jobs available in the hotel industry.
Then there are other areas within a hotel that will expect a rise in demand, from food and beverage to activities for instance!
Mr Hill said the national airline, Fiji Airways, had a $2.8million seat capacity.
“So, from our perspective, there’s certainly a lot of capacity in Fiji Airways if you look ahead over the four years.”
In keeping with this expected surge in numbers, it is encouraging to see the Government making an initial investment of $US200million ($F446.84m) over the next 10 years.
Minister for Tourism Viliame Gavoka said this would go directly to improving essential services and infrastructure to pave the way for private sector investments.
He reiterated Government’s commitment to tourism, highlighting expectations of a million visitors this year.
With Fiji Airways joining the Oneworld Alliance as a fully-fledged member, numbers are set to grow!
As we have highlighted, this would have to be met with investments in hotel capacity!
So now as we look ahead to positive growth, and the associated prospects, we accept that we need to lay a solid foundation, whilst capitalising on our appeal as a tourism destination!
It should also be about embracing the need for sustainable growth, whilst preserving our natural beauty and cultural heritage!
There has to be a point of difference!