Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association CEO Fantasha Lockington says their biggest issue now with Fiji Airway’s steadily increasing seat capacity bringing in more and more visitors to Fiji, which is about to increase even further with two more wide body air crafts being delivered next month as well as other airlines returning in earnest, room inventory will be short by about 4,000 rooms.
Lockington says although airbnb and home-stays have followed up to fill some gaps, smaller, affordable backpackers have not been able to return.
She says in the last decade, there have not been construction of any large resorts as the investment climate has not been very conducive to attract the type of investments needed.
The CEO says infrastructure challenges have been in place for just as long and in fact, has steadily declined.
She says the government is aware of the tourism industry’s current limitations, coupled with the understanding that we must first grow the economic pie before we can expect higher tax and revenue earnings that can in turn pay for much needed infrastructure.
Lockington further says while demand has been higher than even what they had expected, the industry is very much aware of the global economic issues that can significantly impact this demand.
She says they have bounced back faster as the private sector was widely consulted during COVID and together they worked with the government for the best solutions because they understood from the outset that it was critical for Fiji to get its reopening right.
Lockington says it bounced back faster because we have a national airline and this fact should not be underestimated.
The CEO says demand in the last 19 months has exceeded even their wildest expectations.
Lockington says 19 months on, and their traditional off peak periods, usually twice annually, have not eventuated and demand has remained high.
She says from forward booking trends, it appears set to remain for the rest of the year and looking to hold even into next year.
Lockington adds the high bookings show that visitors are spending more, are staying longer and people are travelling to Fiji who have never visited before.
