I HAVE always believed that safety in tourism is not defined by what we say in our brochures, but by what we eventually deliver when it matters.We have spent decades positioning Fiji as a warm, welcoming and safe destination. That reputation has been earned through consistency, through people and through the way our industry shows up for guests every single day.
But safety is not a static claim. It is a moving target, shaped by systems, expectations and realities that are not always aligned.
While we are limited by what we can do as an industry to directly control how drugs have seeped slowly but surely into our communities and urban centres, we can play a proactive role by creating more awareness and being more alert for early warning signs among staff, guests, and the communities we engage with.
In parallel, the tourism sector must also remain vigilant in supporting national efforts to reduce the spread of HIV and other communicable diseases as best it can.
But what has become increasingly clear is that one of the biggest gaps in that alignment sits quietly in the background until something goes wrong: emergency medical response.
Fiji’s public health system does not operate in the way many of our visitors assume it does.
There is no nationally deployed paramedic service in the conventional sense, and ambulance capacity across the country remains limited.
As recent data confirms, the country is operating with fewer than twenty ambulances nationwide – many of them poorly equipped, with some regions experiencing periods of no operational coverage at all.
That is a reality. The structure of our system is different. Public ambulances are often prioritised for inter-hospital transfers rather than rapid response, and emergency care outside hospital settings relies heavily on who is available to drive these, how quickly they can move and what resources are on hand at that moment.
The National Fire Authority has begun stepping into a more active emergency role, with ambulance services now accounting for a growing share of its workload, supported by new funding and equipment upgrades.
These are important developments. They show intent and progress.
But they also underline a deeper truth: Fiji is still in transition when it comes to building a fully integrated emergency response system.
And the singular emergency medical service that is available comes at an exorbitant cost that quite often shocks both visitors and locals alike, and requires access to insurance cover that must be confirmed before the service is provided.
For the tourism sector, this creates an increasing concern. Visitors arrive with expectations shaped by their home countries.
They expect rapid ambulance response, highly trained paramedics and a seamless chain of care from incident to hospital.
Those expectations are not unreasonable. They are simply based on different systems.
The risk is not just operational. It is also perceptual.
A single experience that does not match expectation can quickly shift the narrative from “Fiji is safe” to “Fiji is unprepared”.
In today’s environment, that shift does not happen quietly. It travels, it amplifies and it reshapes confidence far beyond the original moment.
This is where the tourism industry has had to quietly adapt.
Within our hotels, resorts and tourism operations, we attempted to build systems that compensate for these broader gaps.
Not perfectly, but very deliberately.
Staff are trained in CPR and basic first aid.
Defibrillators are increasingly standard equipment. Emergency protocols are in place, not as a formality, but as a necessity.
The focus is simple: stabilise, respond immediately and move the patient to definitive care as quickly as possible.
This is an operational reality. Emergencies are not just about equipment or vehicles. They are about coordination, clarity and speed of decision-making, because accommodation providers, ferry and transport services are not trained medical personnel and cannot take the risk to presume to offer anything but basic first aid and transport during a medical emergency.
Outside of those controlled environments, the situation can change quickly. Crowds gather. People react. Multiple well-meaning individuals attempt to help, often without coordination.
In those moments, the presence of an ambulance alone does not guarantee an effective response.
What matters is whether the system around that ambulance allows it to do its job.
This is where Fiji’s challenge becomes more complex. Not just about the infrastructure, but also about public understanding of emergency response and how individuals behave when something goes wrong.
For tourism, the implication is clear. We cannot rely solely on the broader system to define our safety standards, so we must take ownership of what we can control.
The role of private emergency medical providers has become critical in this space.
These services offer the level of pre-hospital care that international visitors expect, including trained personnel, equipped ambulances complete with trained paramedics, and coordinated medical evacuation when required.
For many tourism operators, partnerships with these providers are an essential layer of protection. But only if they are available.
At the same time, there is a responsibility to communicate more clearly.
We often assume that silence protects perception.
In reality, it can do the opposite. When expectations are not managed, the gap between what visitors and locals assume and what they experience becomes the problem.
Clear communication does not mean undermining confidence. It means setting realistic expectations while reinforcing the measures that are in place. It means ensuring that guests understand who to call, what to expect, and how quickly help can realistically arrive.
It also means encouraging practical safeguards.
Travel insurance with medical evacuation cover should not be an afterthought. It should be standard advice. Basic awareness of local emergency processes should be part of the visitor experience, not something discovered under pressure.
None of this diminishes Fiji’s standing as a safe destination.
Safety is not about the absence of risk. It is about how that risk is managed.
What we are seeing now is a convergence of factors that require a more mature approach to that management.
A growing tourism sector, increasing visitor expectations, a savvier local population that is using its powerful voice on social media platforms to call out substandard services or the absence of expected service, and a national system that is still evolving – all intersect in ways that cannot be ignored.
The opportunity for the industry is to lead, not react.
There is space for stronger collaboration between tourism operators, affordable private EMS providers and even agencies that provide ambulance services that clearly indicate they do not provide trained medical personnel or paramedics and only provide transportation means.
There is definitely space in the public domain for all these services to provide clarity around exactly what they can and cannot provide – including drivers that are rostered around the clock and the carriage of basic medical equipment like stretchers and a first aid kit. There is a case for developing a more coordinated emergency response framework that aligns resources, protocols and communication.
Communication that includes rostered personnel who answer the emergency phone numbers that are provided to the public for just those purposes.
There is also a clear need for long-term investment in national capability.
The development of a paramedic training pathway, the expansion of properly serviced ambulance fleets, and the creation of a centralised dispatch system are not abstract policy goals.
They are foundational to maintaining confidence in Fiji and for its general population, for which our health services have continually let us down.
Especially when ambulances are often provided as donations to the health sector, which post the obligatory press releases with photo opportunities, are eventually turned into added transport vehicles more often than actual ambulance services. At least until they join the graveyards of obsolete, donated vehicles in the growing, sad, rusting heaps in the back of many ministries.
We understand these changes cannot happen overnight. But they are changes that need to be part of the conversation. Now.
We have navigated global crises, natural disasters and shifting market conditions by staying grounded in reality while keeping our focus on addressing the next challenge. This is no different. It simply requires a sharper understanding of where our strengths lie and where we need to reinforce them.
Safety requires constant attention, and the tourism sector has a direct role to play in maintaining it. Reputationally and operationally.
We already know what works. Trained staff. Immediate response capability. Clear protocols. Strong partnerships. Practical, proven measures that make a difference when it counts. And that elusive element in the Fiji context – consistency.
Because in the end, the perception of safety is built on outcomes. Not statements, not campaigns, but what happens when someone needs help. Then it doesn’t matter whether they’re local or a visitor. They’re simply a human being needing urgent medical attention.
Then our collective humanity is called into question.
