January records drop in visitor arrivals
The start of the New Year saw a decrease in foreign visitor arrivals to Fiji by 2,295 compared to the same period in 2017, according to a monthly Fiji Bureau of Statistics report.
A total of 62,648 - compared to 64,943 in January 2017 - foreign visitors came to Fiji last month, from which a significant majority (72.7%) were for holiday purposes.
According to Investment Fiji, tourism contributes 17 per cent to Fiji’s $4.6 billion annual Gross Domestic Product, providing employment to over 40,000 people.
In 2012, it raked in $1.3 billion in gross earnings.
Visitors arriving from China decreased to from 5,908 to 3,757; Australia from 30,128 to 28,313; Japan
down from 587 to 505 and the United Kingdom from 1,349 to 1,321.
The data is collected from the immigration system and released monthly.
It showed increases in visitor arrivals from neighbouring New Zealand. Continental Europe, other Pacific Islands, the United States of America, Canada, South Korea and the rest of Asia.
While a number of the visitors came for holiday purposes, 8.5 per cent came to visit friends or relatives, 3.4 per cent for business, and further 15.4 visited the country for other reasons.
According to the statistics, 62.3 per cent of visitors fell within the age range of 25-64, 17.9 per cent were children, 13.8 per cent between the ages of 15-24 and six per cent of over 65s.