Fiji looks to yields as tourism booms
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Tourism to Fiji is growing strongly and operators are now looking to diversify source markets and increase yields.
That’s the story from the Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange, where buyers have been impressed by the range of product available and the
Skydiver lands at the start of BFTE.
span of accommodation. Hot-air ballooning and skydiving are two of the newer product options.
The range of accommodation options and Fiji’s ability to appeal to all age groups was one of the keys to the country’s tourism success, commented Martin White, Air Pacific’s executive general manager commercial. “We have plenty for the high end of the market – and at the other end we probably service backpackers better than any other destination.”
Air Pacific is pushing its code-share over Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and will utilise Cathay’s strong beyond-network to funnel in visitors from Asia as well as Europe. Transiting or stopping over in Hong Kong has advantages over the Los Angeles alternative, particularly for Asian travellers. It doesn’t require a visa, for a start.
The Hong Kong route, implemented last December, is producing dividends already. Visitor arrival figures for the first quarter 2010 show visits from China climbing by 77.5% and figures from India soaring, with a 94.2% increase. That should help compensate for the withdrawal last year of Air Pacific’s Nadi/Tokyo service.
Fiji is still heavily dependent on arrivals from Australia, which provides over 40% of visitors. Over three-quarters of them book through travel agents, who have always been strong supporters of the reliable, easy-sell destination. The fact has not gone unnoticed by Fiji’s tourism chiefs. Australian visitor arrivals in the first quarter 2010 jumped 53.9% to reach 57,009, helped by recently introduced V-Australia and Jetstar services.
Australians are greatly liked in Fiji though some operators see a need to diversify visitor sources. General manager of Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort and Spa, Michael Monks, said Aussies made up 85% of guests at his resort, one of the largest in the South Pacific. They were always welcome, he said, but that sort of proportion from one market was not healthy. He thanked Air Pacific for putting on the route to Hong Kong.
Rates at the Shangri-La Fijian were “on the floor” Monks conceded “and it will take a lot to get them out”. Other suppliers echoed his sentiments.
International visitor arrival figures for Fiji over the first quarter 2010 show a marked increase over the same period in 2009. That quarter in 2009 was affected by disastrous floods, which depressed growth. But growth is now so healthy that Fiji’s Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum commented at BFTE that the numbers were on par with the results achieved during the record-breaking 2008.
A total of 126,942 international travellers visited Fiji in the first three months of 2010. Nearly all of Fiji’s key source markets, with the exception of Canada and Japan, showed positive growth for the first time in several months.
The figure represents a 26.5% increase over the 100,340 recorded for the same period in 2009, a period described as the toughest in Fiji’s tourism history.
The 126,942 recorded for the quarter fell just 3.6% short of the 131,576 recorded for the corresponding quarter in 2008 – which still stands as Fiji’s best ever start to a calendar year.
I first quarter 2010, Australia was again the star performer for the destination. Australian arrivals should be boosted further over the second quarter following a Channel Seven ‘Sunrise’ broadcast live from Fiji, which attracted a combined weekly audience of more than 2.72 million viewers – or 13 per cent of the Australian population.
Written by: Peter Needham
