FIJI - Cruising is booming

matangitonga.to, 11 Jan 2008

In the words of Japan's Nippon Maru owners (Mitsui OSK) - "the South Pacific has an image of paradise and our cruisers want more of it."So regional tourism organisation south-pacific.travel, with support from ProInvest, has drafted a cruise strategy for the region. Former Pacific Asia Travel Association VP Peter Semone lead the strategy development. Semone has identified four Beacons to enable the South Pacific to capture its due share of the global cruise boom.Beacon 1 is about shore excursions and land based services. People want interesting things to do ashore after days at sea, so ports of call need to ensure a variety of creative shore excursions.

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FIJI - tourism losses hit $200m

eTN, Jan 02, 2008

The loss in tourism earnings was the result of fewer visitors, shorter lengths of stay and discounted rates.
"It has been a very difficult year, with the loss of numbers and employees working short hours. The industry had to reduce rates to make business," he said.
"Everyone reduced their rates from the airline to the hotels to the transport.
"Certainly in the TAG (Tourism Action Group) recovery program, everyone contributed to the reduction. It has been a very challenging year for the industry.
"The foreign exchange earnings subject to confirmation will be a $150m-$200m loss," he said.
Fiji Visitors Bureau chairman Patrick Wong said while he expected visitor numbers to exceed the forecast, fewer people stayed in hotels and at heavily discounted rates.

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FIJI - not ready for Chinese tourists

.fijilive.com, September 25, 2007

Fiji at the moment is still not ready for Chinese tourists, it does not have the products to accommodate them, Tourism permanent secretary Adi Banuve Kaumaitotoya has admitted. She says Fiji is targeting middle level Chinese tourists whom she described as independent travelers from China who come here and stay in accommodations just like a conventional tourist. These tourists are interested in culture, in ecotourism, scenic views and shopping, she says.

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FIJI - Unchecked expansion can threaten environment

Islands Business, 6-8-2007

Tourist numbers are a key issue for Pacific Islands nations as they seek to balance economic development and sustainability, says a key tourism researcher from the University of the South Pacific.Professor Jim McMaster told a recent conference in Port Vila that unchecked expansion of tourism in the Pacific region could threaten some fragile islands environments. “The focus in some countries is on attracting more and more tourists to generate economic growth, but there are limits on the capacity of the local environments to assimilate wastes generated by tourism growth and to supply up-market resorts with the large quantities of water they consume.”Charlie Panakera of the University of Waikato Management School, who has practical experience of running tourism businesses in the Solomon Islands, said that environmental concerns were not always uppermost for Pacific Islanders and it was hard to translate commercial sustainability to local communities.

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FIJI - Tourism industry fights back

Fiji times online, January 29, 2007


The tourism industry in Fiji is slowly fighting back
SINCE the December 5 ousting of Fijis government by its military and the introduction of an Australian government travel advisory, tourism in Fiji has, not surprisingly, been in decline.
The upheaval has come at an inopportune time for the island nations tourism industry.
Fiji is in the midst of a five-star accommodation boom and two international chains, Sofitel and Hilton, have opened at Denarau Island, near Nadi, in the past year. Likuliku Lagoon Resort, in the Mamanuca group of islands near Nadi, is a luxury couples-only getaway with Fijis first overwater bungalows the style of dreamy tropical accommodation that is the prime drawcard for resorts in Tahiti and the Maldives and is due to open on March 15. General manager Steve Anstey is emphatic the 46-bure island resort will launch on time.

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DEVELOPMENTS - Pacific in 2007: THE WINNERS AND LOSERS

Islandsbusiness.com, 9-1-2007

The big trends all have positive and negative potentials and the changes will be seen as good or bad depending on one's point of view. Overall, however, the winnings look to be on the side of foreign interests and the losses to be heaviest among indigenous Pacific Islanders. We assume there are no major calamities this year-and no major windfalls.First, independence will shrink a little further. External involvement in the Pacific Islands is increasing. The big international organisations controlled by the major powers led by USA (World Bank, Asian Development Bank, World Trade Organisation, G8, OECD, etc) are all pushing for changes that will lead to more external control of Pacific Islands governments, economies, commerce and people. More of the big decisions are being made from abroad, though often presented as local decisions.

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FIJI - Western Sanctions Make Fiji Turn to China, Asia

IPSnews.net, Dec 13

Sanctions imposed on Fiji by Western countries following the overthrow, last week, of the democratically-elected government of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase may push the country's new military leaders towards its Asian neighbours, particularly a willing China, for support.

Ganesh Chand, a former University of the South Pacific lecturer in economics, says that while the sanctions are aimed at the perpetrators of the coup, rather than the country, they could cause the regime to distance itself from its traditional bilateral trade partners, Australia and New Zealand, as well as Britain and the United States.

Chand cited precedence from the 1987 and 2000 coups when interim regimes headed by the late Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara and Qarase, respectively, responded to Western sanctions by embarking on a ‘Look North' policy, seeking new export markets and investment.

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FIJI - No respite for Fiji’s tourism industry

eTN Asia/Pacific, december 8, 2006

For Fiji, which heavily depends upon tourism when it comes to propelling its economy, the coup’s adverse impact is resulting in alarming situation. Tourism is considered to be Fiji’s biggest foreign exchange earner.

“Now the industry worth about $700 million a year is braced for a backlash as tourists stay away as the military coup takes effect. The tourism industry employs more than 45,000 and makes up a quarter of Fiji's economy,” according to a media report.

According to Economist.com, tourism numbers are bound to fall off sharply as bookings are cancelled in light of the latest coup. On top of this, aid inflows are likely to be revised—and sanctions imposed—as Fiji’s neighbors review diplomatic relations with the military government.

Apart from tourism, the overall situation is getting adversely affected. The international rating agencies, Standard and Poors, and Moodys have put Fiji on negative credit watch as a result. It is being felt that the drop-off in tourism following the coup will add to Fiji’s existing problems, such as the declining sugar and garment industries. Meanwhile, the global bank Citicorp, says the continuing unrest means the next time Fiji’s government goes to the market for money, the interest rates will be much higher.

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FIJI - New developments planned for Nausori, Fiji

Property-report.com, Oct 06

The rural town of Nausori, just outside the Fijian capital of Suva, is likely to be the next "happening" town in Fiji, said caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase.

With the new Rewa Bridge almost complete, the town is now looking towards the upgrading of Nausori Airport, which could see Boeing 737 planes landing.

One prominent Fiji hotel group has taken the lead and is planning on building a multi-million dollar development at Davuilevu, comprising a 50-room hotel with conference and entertainment facilities plus shops and residential lots.

As part of a master plan for the improvement of Fiji’s two largest airports,a large amount of development capital has been allocated to Nausori Airport that will go to projects for completion this year, Qarase said early this month.

These include major improvements to the terminal building, a new state-of-art control tower, and a runaway extension allowing heavier take off and landing loads.

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FIJI - Gavoka counters low-pay theory

Fijitimes online, October 21, 2006

FIJI's reputation as a quality destination, and not a low-pay structure, is what attracts tourism investment, says the Fiji Visitors Bureau.

Chief executive officer Viliame Gavoka was responding to a presentation at a regional conference that foreign direct investment in tourism was predicated in Fiji's maintenance of a low wage structure.

Professor Vijay Naidu of Victoria University in Wellington and Elizabeth St John-Ives, a Masters student, presented a study at this week's regional conference on Institutions, Globalisation and their impacts on labour markets in Pacific island countries.

Mr Gavoka said the labour cost component of doing business in Fiji was much higher than among some competitors in Asia.

He said people invested in Fiji tourism because it was a destination that continued to grow in popularity and would continue to do so.

"It is demand-driven and demand for Fiji will grow. If it was driven largely by low wages, then some of the more populous countries inAsiawould be seeing huge tourism investments, but they are not," said Mr Gavoka.

He said tourism industry workers were not lowly paid. He said they had more non-cash benefits than workers in most other industries.

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ASIA PACIFIC - Tourism Breaks Records in 2005

PATA COMMUNICATIONS, September 13, 2006


The ‘PATA Annual Statistical Report 2005 Summary & Extracts’ was launched today in Hong Kong, at a PATA Travel Mart 2006 luncheon workshop on Asia Pacific travel and tourism’s state-of-play. The new report by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Strategic Intelligence Centre (SIC) brings together in one volume the top-line performance statistics for destinations across the Asia Pacific region for the period 2001 to 2005. Covering both inbound and outbound flows, the report provides an overview of annual travel movements to and within the most dynamic region in the world today – Asia Pacific. During the workshop, PATA Director-SIC Mr John Koldowski outlined the major issues and trends affecting international travel flows to and within the region. International visitor arrivals (IVAs) to Asia Pacific in 2005 numbered nearly 330 million trips, representing region-wide year-on-year growth of 7.6%. Since 2001, IVAs have grown at an average annual rate of 6%. “Calendar year 2005 was a very successful year in terms of IVAs into and within Asia Pacific,” said Mr Koldowski. “In fact, by the end of 2005, a number of international inbound volume records were broken.” The following destinations posted “best-ever’ performances” in 2005:- • Chile and Mexico in the Americas; • Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia; • China (PRC), Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Korea (ROK) and Macau SAR in Northeast Asia; • Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam in Southeast Asia; and • Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Hawaii, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Vanuatu in the Pacific.

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FIJI - Storm clouds gather over Fijian tourism

The Sydney Morning Herald, 9-12-2006

Due to a deal with the reef's traditional owners, surfers have to stay at a nearby $US300-a-night resort ($396) to ride it. The resort then passes on a percentage of profits to the local community.
Nearby, on Fiji's popular Yasawa and Mamanuca islands, some hoteliers simply pay locals to stay off the water around the resorts. Others build schools and infrastructure to foster goodwill. But the Fijian Government wants to extend a Cloudbreak-style scheme across the country. The Qoliqoli bill, before parliament, would return the ownership of the water off all beaches, lagoons and reefs from the Government to their traditional owners and ensure that anyone fishing, diving, surfing, sailing, and perhaps even swimming with a commercial operator in Fiji pays for the privilege.

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FIJI - landowners seek to stop major tourism development

A group of indigenous landowners in Fiji have filed a court injunction to stop one of the country's biggest tourism developments after the Native Lands Trust Board allegedly made payments based on forged documents.

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FIJI - chamber of commerce backs medical tourism plan

There is support from the Fiji Chamber of Commerce for a proposal to develop medical tourism in the country.The chamber's president, Taito Waradi, says discussions are under way with the Apollo Group, a large healthcare company in India which operates 45 hospitals and a number of clinics.

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FIJI - Tourism on track to deliver promise

THE tourism industry is on track to become a billion-dollar industry by next year, the Fiji Visitors Bureau says. Bureau's chief executive officer Viliame Gavoka made the comment at the 145th Asia Pacific Incentive and Meetings Expo currently held in Australia.

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