Fiji Hottest Destination for 2022
“WE have steadily and responsibly made it safer and easier to travel to Fiji in line with international best practices.” The President, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere, speaking at the opening of the 2022 Fijian Tourism Expo last week, said Fiji was back and has become one of the most coveted destinations in 2022.
President Katonivere said “we continue to hear from our trade partners that Fiji is the ‘hottest’ destination of the year”.
He said when he hears that, he thinks of more jobs for Fijians and feels confident that the entire tourism industry was more than ready to keep this recovery going
strong and share “our beautiful home with our friends around the world”.
Speaking of Fiji’s recovery efforts, the Head of State said, “against all odds, we kept true to our vision and revived this industry together; returning our people to the jobs they love. I am confident that our tourism industry’s remarkable resilience and competitive spirit will continue to support Fiji’s ongoing economic recovery”.
“Every tourism industry representative and operator in this room dedicated and committed their time and resources to train their staff and prepare their property to welcome visitors back. We did this together as a team, and we succeeded as a team.”
He said as the country heads into the peak of the tourism season, the forward booking numbers for Fiji for this month through
to July and beyond was looking extremely positive.
“Our next great challenge is to set this industry on a more sustainable path of growth. Through this Fijian Tourism Expo, the Tourism Fiji team has put in place a range of initiatives to make this event the most sustainable yet, one step toward making this commitment a reality is the move to go paperless.”
All paperwork for the expo was shared through the Fijian Tourism Expo App.
President Katonivere said this was part of Tourism Fiji’s overall goal to adopt more sustainable practices in the way it conducts business and urged other stakeholders to keep innovating, keep listening, and keep implementing new ways to make the industry more sustainable in the years ahead.
Also addressing the industry at Expo, the Minister for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, Faiyaz Koya, acknowledged efforts such as the Blue Lane and “Love Our Locals” initiatives that helped fijians keep jobs.
“Today, we have a lot to be thankful for. And we must pay special tribute to first; the Fijian tourism industry and our people – who are our biggest draw card. And second; to our guests – who I’m sure have come with renewed enthusiasm to take Fiji to the world.”
Also present at the Expo was Fiji Airways managing director and Tourism Fiji board chairman, Andre Viljoen, and Tourism Fiji chief executive officer, Brent Hill.