‘Direct Fiji- Vancouver flight, a New Market for New Zealand, Australia’
The direct Fiji to Vancouver flight opens up a whole new market for Australians and New Zealanders, says Paula Rhodes.
She is the director for House of Travels in Christchurch, New Zealand.
House of Travel is a travel and tourism company.
“Coming from New Zealand, we have a limited market with the airlines flying, so this opens up another way for us competing with some major airlines flying in and out of New Zealand,” she said.
“So we not only get to Vancouver but we get to see the beautiful Fiji along the way which is a huge bonus for us.”
She added that it was a good holiday combination package.
Fiji as a destination
Fiji has been a massive destination for New Zealanders back in 2019 pre-COVID.
House of Travel owner operator, Stacey Mullinger however said more awareness needed to be done in the tourism sector, especially the different accommodation options in Fiji.
There were challenges in finding accommodation packages that would best suit their clients because most of the resorts New Zealanders do not know about.
“We are finding the capacity quite challenging so maybe we need different accommodation options to be marketed to the different markets so that we get more choice for our clients.”
Especially now that clients have started booking accommodation to watch the Swire Shipping Fijian Drua play with the Super Rugby Pacific defending champion, the Crusaders, at Churchill Park, Lautoka, next year. Ms Mullinger adds that pricing was a big factor at the moment because it was getting expensive for New Zealanders.
“Fiji has always been an affordable holiday for us and we need to make sure they keep it that way because if it’s not like that now, tourists might not look to come back next year.
“Moreover, Fiji is back on the market for everybody, it’s safe and tourists feel they can relax and it’s easy to cross over so why go anywhere else.”
Ms Mullinger has been in the travel industry for more than two decades with 11 years at the House of Travel.
Ms Mullinger and Ms Rhodes along with their group were also on the inaugural Fiji to Vancouver flight.