From Tourist River Tours to Restaurant in 2 Days
It took two days for a Navuabased River Tubing Fiji owner to switch to restaurant business following the border closure and lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cannibal Country restaurant owner, William Danford knew that he had to make some quick and hard decisions in business to survive after his river tubing business came to a halt in April after the second wave hit our shores.
“Learning from my first experience last year, I knew I had to make some quick decisions. I rented out the available space in my father’s building and opened this takeaway restaurant service two days after the lockdown was announced,” he shared.
Mr Danford said he was not spared from the impact of this global pandemic last year and joined Tourism Fiji’s Go Local initiative.
“We cut our tours rates to 50 per cent for local guests, and that helped us roll and maintaining our staff numbers. However, the impact of second phase in April put a stop to this,” he said.
Mr Danford who ventured into the tourism industry following his father’s footsteps in 2017 started a unique tourist river gorge tubing adventure. This was also nominated for the Excellence in Tourism Awards.
“Everyone and every business are affected by this pandemic, but we have to come with innovative income generating ideas and find means to survive.” he said.
Mr Danford is requesting all Fijians to adhere to COVID 19 guidelines and get fully vaccinated so things can get back to normalcy soon.
“I am new to this restaurant business but the support from my wife Kafoa and children is overwhelming and I learn every day”, he said.
He added that, while his passion for river tubing adventure remains pondering in his mind, the restaurant business will be able to sail him through these difficult times.