Fiji full of untapped cruise potential

THE emerging cruise market of Fiji (pictured) is hungry for expansion, but wants to “do cruise better” than some of the world’s other large destinations, Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Officer, Brent Hill, told Cruise Weekly at this week’s Fijian Tourism Expo.

Key to the Tourism Fiji head’s wishes for the country’s cruise industry is that it will properly integrate with the community, which will then benefit from it.

Part of this strategy could in the future involve the development of a private island destination in Fiji, with Hill saying he was “open to discussion” about the concept.

“Yeah, absolutely... it’s infrastructure, it’s not just building an enormous jetty or port,” he said.

“You see those images from the Caribbean where they’re pulling up, and everybody piles out and I’m looking at it thinking ‘100% we could be offering that’.”

However, Hill said he wanted to go through the process in the right way, which involves engaging local landowners and clearly informing them about what is possible.

“There are some parts of Fiji that are just stunning, and I’m sure that with that education, we can have the cruise sector do it in a way that’s really respectful and really helps the villages out.

“I want to go through that process in the right way with the right people, which includes the landowners so they understand the process and understand what it could mean for them if it’s done well,” he said.

Fiji’s capital Suva is presently the country’s largest cruise port, and its season will kick off in Sep with the arrival of Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess (CW 16 Mar).

Tourism Fiji is currently working with Suva to develop more day trip itineraries for passengers, complementing those available in Lautoka, the nation’s secondlargest cruising destination.

“Walking around Suva, it’s great for a day, but we need to get people some itineraries,” Hill said.

“Lautoka (near Nadi) is much easier, because you’ve got all the connections to all of the stuff that’s there, that’s all set up... and when you’re talking about a couple of thousand people, descending [upon the city], that’s significant, right?”