Bula
We have four preambles on the front page of The Fiji Times for Thursday, February 6.
There is news about our water woes, the importance of looking after our tourism industry, and students still studying in tents, and hope of new classrooms! We also have the latest from the Commission of Inquiry into the Barbara Malimali issue.
Despite promises of relief from the Viria Water Treatment Plant, residents near the facility continue to struggle with severe water shortages. In 2023, WAF’s General Manager of Customer Services, Sekove Uluinayau, assured that once the Viria project is fully online, water supply issues along the Suva to Nausori corridor would be resolved.
Australian tourists to Fiji spent $3.7billion ($AUD2.5billion) between July 2023 and June 2024. Westpac Fiji senior economist Shamal Chand said a survey they conducted from Australian international trade statistics found that in terms of where Australians liked to spend the most when travelling, Fiji is 11th on that list. Full report on Page 13
Students at Valelawa Primary School in Macuata have been enduring harsh conditions, studying in tents since last year due to a lack of proper classrooms. The intense heat and rainwater leakage have made learning uncomfortable, with many students, like Mohammed Rizwan’s son, returning home daily with complaints about the unbearable sun and wet, leaky tents. Meanwhile a new classroom project to be completed by the end of the 2024-2025 financial year should provide a stable, safe environment for students.
Synopsis
The revelation that Australian tourists spent around $SU2.5billion ($F3.7b) between July 2023 and June 2024, placing Fiji at 11th on the list of destinations where Australians liked to spend the most when travelling, should attract a lot of interest.
It is an encouraging part of the tourism industry, one we obviously should be protecting.
This was revealed in Westpac Wave, Westpac Fiji’s country quarterly economic update released on Tuesday.
It highlighted findings from its survey of international trade statistics from Australia.
Westpac Fiji senior economist Shamal Chand said Australia was not only Fiji’s largest tourism source market representing more than 45 per cent of total arrivals, but Fiji also heavily relied on that provision of tourists and continued to build on that relationship.
Close to 450,000 Australians visited Fiji, growing by five per cent from the previous year.
In 2023, for instance, Mr Chand said, over 10 million Australian residents departed for short-term travels, for holiday visits, and business reasons, of which around 434,000 (4.2 per cent) came to Fiji.
The Ministry of Tourism’s 2023 Fiji International Visitor Survey reported that the 929,740 visitors that arrived that year contributed an estimated $3.22b to the Fiji economy.
That report noted visitors spent an estimated $1.19b on accommodations and $736m on international airfare to Fiji.
This is great news indeed!
Now, again, we reiterate the need for us to expand the tourism dollar.
Let’s make destinations outside of Viti Levu, like beautiful places on Vanua Levu for instance, more accessible to our international visitors.
That, as we have been saying, would mean considering travel times from Nadi Airport to Labasa and Savusavu. It would also mean considering the two airports, and their capacity, and ability to cater for greater demand in terms of visitor numbers.
It would mean the two airports are designed to cater for night flights if there is a need.
We are talking about spreading the dollar, and empowering hoteliers in the North. The positive roll-on impact would be great. And we are talking about stimulating the domestic economy in the North. We are talking about employment opportunities and the ability of more people to share in this great effort by tourism stakeholders and improve their lives.
And while we are at it, let’s also talk about what we can do as Fijians, to provide the perfect platform and destination for our visitors to talk positively about us, and plan return trips here. Let’s make them ambassadors for our nation, spreading the positive news about us and our Fiji. So let’s be part of the process of assisting in creating a sustainable, thriving tourism industry that will support our economy for many more years.
