A business proposal and plan with a 7 year cashflow projection which was submitted to the Fiji Development Bank resulted in a dream coming true to run the first i-Taukei owned hotel.
The opening of the Namolevu Beach Bures Accommodation in the Coral Coast along Queens Road will provide employment for approximately 25 people within the province of Nadroga/Navosa.
Namolevu Beach Bures Managing Director Sisa Matanisiga hopes to prove that the i-Taukei can run the tourism business with true Fijian taste.
Matanisiga says that the property was previously owned by an Australian investor and was later sold to an American investor who operated the backpacker hotel for 2 years.
However he says that due to some bad business dealing, it forced the government to intervene and the American investor was deported.
After the American investor was deported, the TLTB land lease was given back to the landowners (Tokatoka Hema).
Matanisiga says that after six years he and Luke Tabuhakia on behalf of the Tokatoka Hema then approached the Fiji Development Bank.
He says that with the assistance of FDB under the Government’s Business Development Initiative Programme, they were able to refurbish 8 bures at a total of $450,000.
