FIJI recorded a new September record of 95,970 visitor arrivals, driven largely by holidaymakers, with Australia and New Zealand continuing to dominate the country’s tourism market.
Provisional figures released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS) show arrivals increased by 3.9 per cent compared with September last year, when 92,344 visitors were recorded.
The latest figure also surpassed the 92,591 arrivals recorded in September 2024, although it was four per cent lower than August this year, which recorded 99,963 visitors.
The FBoS report, released on October 16, showed that 80.4 per cent of September arrivals were holidaymakers, while 8.1 per cent came to visit friends or relatives, 2.1 per cent travelled for business and 9.4 per cent arrived for other reasons.
Of the total arrivals, 94,950 came by air, while 1020 arrived by sea. Sea arrivals included 671 seamen on fishing vessels and 349 yacht visitors.
Australia remained Fiji’s largest source market, contributing 46,302 visitors, or 48.2 per cent of total arrivals.
New Zealand followed with 22,207 visitors, accounting for 23.1 per cent, while the United States contributed 9358 visitors, or 9.8 per cent.
Visitors from Continental Europe totalled 3329, followed by China with 2924, Canada with 1451 and the United Kingdom with 1287.
Together, the seven major source markets accounted for 90.5 per cent of total arrivals, underlining Fiji’s continued reliance on a relatively concentrated group of overseas markets.
The report also showed that 63.6 per cent of visitors were aged between 25 and 64, while children aged 14 and below accounted for 16.2 per cent.
Visitors aged 65 and above made up 11.7 per cent, with those aged 15 to 24 accounting for the remaining 8.5 per cent. Despite the record September performance, arrivals remained below August’s total, highlighting a monthly slowdown after the previous month’s stronger showing. The FBoS described the figures as provisional.
The latest statistics provided a snapshot of visitor numbers, but do not quantify tourism spending or the revenue generated by the arrivals.
