Report: Too many hotel rooms in Suva

A REPORT by a former general manager of the New Zealand Government’s Tourist and Publicity Department, R.S. Odell, found that Suva had too many hotel rooms.

The Fiji Times reported on Tuesday, October 22, 1968, that the report on the hotel industry in Fiji by Mr Odell, who was engaged in an advisory assignment by the Fiji Government, stated Suva had too many hotel rooms at the time and any big project for completion before 1971 should be discouraged – if necessary, by withholding Hotel Aids Ordinance help.

He said withholding of assistance under the Hotel Aids Ordinance should be regarded as a reserve power in the discouragement of more projects in Suva.

The problem of creating more demand, especially for Suva, should have received the Government’s attention.

He said visitors needed to be encouraged to spend an average of one extra night in Suva and possible ways of doing this were:

■ To develop Fiji Airways’ schedules for night flights from Nadi to Nausori to take some of the pressure off Nadi hotels and help Suva.

■ To develop more side trips

from Suva capable of holding people for an additional day, like regular tours to Levuka by sea or air.

■ To develop a combined ‘stayin-Suva’ campaign by interested parties.

Dealing with the Nadi area, Mr Odell said a double advantage could be obtained if resort areas could be developed in striking distance from Nadi.

Not only could the need for further development be met but some of the pressure on Nadi hotels could be lightened.

He also said the early development of a major resort area at Natadola would be beneficial and added any proposal for the development of Saweni or adjacent islands should be encouraged. Priority

He said there was no doubt the pressure on Nadi hotels would continue to increase and there was a high priority for more rooms, but warned there were a number of possibilities, including the effect of the reconstruction of the Queens Rd, which could reduce the demand on Nadi.

Mr Odell said round-the-island tours by coaches would come in which would mean an attractive stop-over hotel in the region of Viti Levu Bay would have to be provided and by December of that year, there would be a total of 1541 rooms – 648 in Suva, 520 in the Nadi-Lautoka

area, 274 on the Coral Coast, 46 on the Kings Rd and 53 others.

If all his suggestions could be achieved by the end of 1973, a possible distribution of the 3500 rooms that would then be required would then be Suva 875, Nadi-Lautoka 1365 in the airport area and 235 in resorts, Coral Coast 675, Kings Rd 175, others 175.

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