ONE year since Fiji’s first COVID-19 case, Nadi has lost a valuable lifeline with the tourism industry coming to a grinding halt.
This, according to Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) president Dr Ram Raju.
“Nadi remains the worst affected, biding our time and this pandemic has taken a huge toll on Fiji.
“We have learnt lessons and we are not alone in this,” he said.
Dr Raju said the pride of the Pacific – the Fiji Airways fleet – was grounded and all hopes of economic recovery “soon evaporated with the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases globally”.
He said with the vaccinations rolling out, it had given us a ray of hope and we had remained COVID-free for more than 300 days.
“Flea markets appeared to be a temporary reprieve once the lockdown was lifted and the famous and popular Votcity flea market in Votualevu is no longer attracting good numbers.”
Dr Raju said the existing upmarket restaurants in Nadi town, Namaka and Martintar were all reporting loss of business and were barely surviving despite the reduction in food and beverage prices.
“When COVID-19 hit us really badly, we counted close to 40 shops in Nadi closing down.”
