If there is any burgeoning of commerce taking place in Fiji, it’s arguably bottle-necked in Nadi.
Known as Fiji’s “tourist town” for obvious reasons that it is host to Fiji’s major hotels and major international airport, Nadi in 2023 was an enviable hive of commercial activities – from tourism to mining to retail to new investments.
Add to that farming and forestry, which Nadi is also traditionally known for, and Nadi is undoubtedly the cradle of Fiji’s economic prosperity.
Now, this small town of a little over 42,000 people (2007 census) wants to add sports and medical tourism to its list of economic drivers.
“What we need is an international class multipurpose sports stadium, seating close to or more than 50,000 people,” said Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) president Dr Ram Raju.
“We have mooted this concept several times with submissions to the line ministers in the past.
“We have the infrastructure already. We have unlimited hotel rooms and more hotel construction are on the way, to accommodate large numbers of spectators and participants.
“Nadi International Airport is just here with excellent connectivity to all regional countries and around the world,” said Dr Raju in an interview with the Fiji Times. NCCI has even set up a sports subcommittee to look into this ambition.
“The NCCI Sports subcommittee was tasked to make further submissions to various line ministers in the past,” Dr Raju said.
“Usman Lale, Bobby Tikaram and Marika Ravula who are well-known sports personalities, along with NCCI board met several times to draw up a plan that first of all a suitably sized capacity of up to 50,000 sports stadium be constructed somewhere in Nadi.
“What is needed is a master plan for this project to materialize with all the stakeholders taking part.
“The weather is also predictable all year round unlike Suva where frequent rains can easily disrupt many sports as well as transportation and of course they (Suva) don’t have enough hotel room numbers.”
No doubt, there’s a lot going for Nadi as the likely powerhouse of Fiji’s sports tourism, potential that is now backed by an actual study by Tourism Fiji and the Australian government funded Market Development Facility.
The study looked into the economics of Fijian Drua’s 2023 Super Rugby Pacific season and found gold in its multiplier effect – direct associated expenditure of $67.1 million, employment opportunities for 21,000 equivalent to 520 full-time jobs, an average visitor spend of $6837 during their stay contributing to a total expenditure of $40 million.
Domestic tourists generated 20,970 visitor nights and spent $2.35m , according to the study.
That these games took place during Fiji tourism’s off season months puts another spin to the potentials offered by sports tourism.
NCCI is also keeping tab on the development of medical tourism through the newly-opened Pacific Specialist Health Care Hospital (PSH) in Legalega, near Nadi airport. “PSH opened in May 2023. It’s a 100-bed hospital,” said Dr Raju.
“The managing director is already looking at the adjacent second building of Sun Insurance to expand it to 200 beds.
“There are plans to accommodate all the major specialist services that one would be looking for in countries like Australia, NZ and India where most of our patients are currently going for specialist services.
“PSH has the plans in motion to offer all such services here in Nadi in due course which includes open heart bypass surgeries, organ transplants such as kidneys, hip and knee replacements et cetera.”
Being right next to the international airport in a tourist town, opportunities potentiall spawned by PSH are a no-brainer.
“It’s an ideal hospital for medical tourism targeting all the Pacific island countries, including Australia and NZ and elsewhere where some patients on the waiting list can take advantage of,” Dr Raju said.
“Fiji is a well-known tourist destination and Nadi offers the best attractions for tourists to enjoy after undergoing their procedures at PSH.
“PSH is already providing specialist services such as brain and spinal surgeries, nephrology, gastroenterology, orthopaedics, gynaecology, cardiac screenings et cetera, with local specialists, some of whom are based at Lautoka Hospital and CWM Hospital and several regional countries have given their support.
“Fiji Airways has excellent regional services and many patients are already treated here.
“More specialists will be based permanently at PSH in due course.”
A lot more is in the cards for Nadi this year and beyond. But what the city fathers would like to see is something to be done about the town’s propensity to flooding during heavy rains.
“Nadi was largely spared from any natural disasters and since the devastating floods of 2012, the town remained flood free, although certain areas along the Nadi Back Road caused extensive damages due to bottle neck areas,” Dr Raju said.
“These bottle neck areas obviously need prompt measures to prevent or mitigate against flood damages in the future.
“NCCI was party to many meetings and deliberations on flood mitigation measures including the JICA reports some of which were eventually implemented. “We hope this can be completely implemented in the near future.”
