THE doors to the Crowne Plaza Convention Centre in Nadi open at 8am today for the first day of HOTEC 2026, and the program that follows gives the tourism industry and the public a reason to be there from the first appointment to the last cocktail.
The formal start is at 9am in the Baravi 2 Ballroom, where the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka, officially opens the event as chief guest.
At 9:30am he walks the tradeshow floor, meeting exhibitors at their stands and seeing first-hand the suppliers, products and services that keep Fiji’s hotels, resorts and tour operators running.
The walk-through matters beyond the ceremony. HOTEC puts the businesses that supply the industry in the same building as the people who buy from them and the officials who set the rules they work under.
Having all three together on one morning is uncommon, and the opening gives the rest of the day its direction.
The tradeshow is the centre of HOTEC and stays open until 5pm. For buyers, it is a day of appointments with suppliers in one building, covering ground that would otherwise take days of separate meetings. For visitors, it is a chance to see what the industry is buying, serving and building, and to ask the businesses behind those products directly.
Outside, on the front lawn, the competition finals run through the day. The Fiji Chefs Association runs the cooking finals from 9am to 4pm at Station 3, and Vision Commercial organises the cocktail finals over the same hours at Station 2.
At Station 1, the South Pacific Coffee Company runs the barista finals from 10am to 4pm. These are finals, so those on the lawn will be watching the best of each field work under pressure, in a sector where service standards are built on exactly these skills.
Because all three run for most of the day, visitors can move between stations as the finals progress.
Visitors who want a coffee do not have to wait for the results. The South Pacific Coffee Company also runs a free coffee station in the main foyer from 9am to 5pm.
The program also deals with the part of tourism that is less visible but affects every business in it.
The first information session, from 10:30am to 12pm in the Baravi 2 Ballroom, is titled The Regulatory Reset: What Fiji’s changing rules mean for tourism businesses. Operators have been working through new and changing requirements, and the session sets out what those changes mean for day-to-day operations, compliance and cost.
It is sponsored by the Pacific Ocean Litter Project (SPREP).
The second session picks up where the first leaves off. From Framework to Business Practice: Getting ready for Fiji’s tourism standards runs from 1:30pm to 3pm, also in Baravi 2.
A standards framework only helps if a resort manager, a dive operator or a small accommodation provider can turn it into routine practice.
The morning session explains what is changing, and the afternoon session deals with how to apply it. It is also sponsored by the Pacific Ocean Litter Project (SPREP).
The placement of these sessions inside a tradeshow is deliberate. A business owner can hear what the new rules require, then walk onto the floor and speak to the suppliers who may be able to help meet them.
Few industry events allow that sequence in a single day, and it gives the information sessions a practical use that a stand-alone seminar would struggle to offer.
Exhibitors have their own breaks built into the day. Morning tea and networking runs from 10:30am to 11:30am, and ‘a grab and go’ lunch sponsored by Palmex International follows from 1pm to 2pm, both in the side foyer.
The time is meant for the conversations that lead to orders and partnerships once the stands are packed down.
Visitors planning their day can build a route around the fixed points: the opening at 9am, the first session from 10:30am, the second from 1:30pm and the cocktail from 6pm. The tradeshow and the competitions fill the hours between.
The day closes in the Baravi Ballroom with a networking cocktail from 6pm to 9pm, sponsored by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). For an industry that depends on relationships between hoteliers, suppliers, agents and officials, the evening is where much of the day’s business gets continued.
HOTEC 2026 continues tomorrow, Friday October. For anyone deciding whether to come, today offers the full range in one place: the Government’s opening address, the rules explained, the competition finals, and the exhibitors who supply Fiji’s tourism industry.
