Limited rooms worrying

FIJI will not be able to get to pre-pandemic visitor arrival numbers until more hotel rooms were available to sell, says local tourism operator Tony Whitton.

He shared this after the recent release of data by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, which indicated that more than 636,000 visitors spent their holidays in Fiji last year.

While Mr Whitton described last year’s success as amazing for Team Fiji, he noted that this success should not be taken for granted and industry stakeholders should work a lot harder this year.

“As it is now, most hotels are full from June to October of this year,” Mr Whitton said.

“We have close to 500 rooms off-line with the Westin and Pullman undergoing renovations.

“This room constraint will limit any growth into 2023 but also impede Fiji Airways’s

growth as they plan to fly to new destinations.

“Our biggest risk now for 2023 is complacency and slacking off on delivering truly world-class service levels to our international visitors.”

The Rosie Travel Group and Ahura Resorts managing director said local tourism stakeholders needed to realise that many competitor markets had not fully re-opened last year and this may change this year, as competitors would be aggressively pursuing their markets, offering cheap airfares and hotel packages to lure them away from Fiji.

“If we do not continue to deliver thoughtful and outstanding service to our visitors, it will have a bearing not this year but in 2024.

“Our visitors do have a choice where they want to spend their next holiday.

“The other risk is we have to re-open as soon as practically possible some major resorts that are closed and undergoing refurbishment.”