Australian agents indispensable in selling Fiji
Download this page in PDF formatAustralian travel agents are the most important link in distributing Fiji travel product and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
That’s the word from Paresh Pant, Tourism Fiji’s regional director Australia.
He adds that the fastest-growing travel segment from Australia is weddings – Aussies are increasingly keen to marry in Fiji.
At the Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange at Port Denerau, Nadi, Pant told e-Global Travel News that agents were responsible for about 70% of Fiji bookings out of Australia in 2009. The figure was an estimate because final totals for the year had yet to be released.
For comparison, Pant said the slice of bookings through agents in 2004 had been about 86%, so the proportion has fallen.
“But that’s to be expected,” Paresh said. “It doesn’t mean that agents’ influence on selling the destination has declined, just that advances in technology have meant that people do look up deals online. Agent support for Fiji is extremely strong and for the foreseeable future it is going to stay that way. While Fiji is an easy sell, it’s only those who have been here once or twice who know how to get around the destination. The agents hold a lot of credibility in marketing a destination.”
Agents knew how to match clients with the right product and the most appealing area, he said.
“I don’t think the agents’ role will diminish. People talk in percentages but if you took the travel agents out of the equation, Fiji would be out on a limb.”
Some 40% of visitors to Fiji are Australians. Just three years ago, it was under 26%. The number of Australian repeat visitors is very high – about one third.
Singers at Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange.
The group wedding market out of Australia was “on fire”, Pant said, fuelled by “great value deals”.
“It’s not necessarily cheap. Value doesn’t equal cheap. But all your costs are known upfront and it’s a very easy destination to get to. You can fly on Air Pacific, Qantas, Pacific Blue, V Australia or Jetstar at any time from early morning to late afternoon. Connectivity and transfers are well organised.”
When Tourism Fiji held a weddings working in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide in March, news spread fast.
“Although it was targeted solely at agents, word got out through Facebook and Twitter via agents and we had couples who turned up
and who had been married in Fiji and couples who were intending to do so.” The worskhop had been to educate agents about marriage licences and other wedding-related matters.
Rosies choir sings at Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange
Tourism Fiji runs an agent support program, Fiji Matai, (www.fijimatai.com) to keep agents informed about Fiji specifics – for instance “if clients want a place that’s five-star and has it all, big accommodation, then come to Denerau. If you want a secluded holiday among the rainforest, go up to the northern islands,” Pant says.
Written by: Peter Needham
