Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill says their website has recorded a 55% increase in traffic in the 24 hours following the easing of New Zealand’s home isolation requirements, signalling that Kiwis are interested to explore Fiji as a post-pandemic holiday destination.
Hill says holiday-starved fully vaccinated Kiwis can now fly to Fiji and enjoy quarantine-free travel both when they arrive in Fiji and as they return home.
The CEO says the country’s national airline, Fiji Airways will touch down this evening with eager vacationers who have not travelled anywhere since March 2019.
He adds to commemorate this momentous occasion, they have organised a warm welcome at the Nadi International Airport for all 100 passengers on board the first flight.
Hill adds Fiji and the people cannot wait to welcome Kiwis back to our shores as we have been waiting for this moment for two years.
Tourism Fiji Regional Director for New Zealand, Sonya Lawson says they are anticipating high demand from New Zealand with the opening of the border.
She says Fiji has always been a popular hot spot for Kiwis, previously being Fiji’s second-largest source market and accounting for over 200,000 visitors each year.
Fiji Airways Managing Director and CEO Andre Viljoen says they have seen an influx of Kiwis interested in flying to Fiji and they expect to see the demand continue to increase over the coming months.
The Consul at the New Zealand High Commission, Jennifer Du Toit says it is great to see Kiwi tourists return to Fiji and provide much needed economic injection to the tourism industry following the announcement that New Zealand’s border is now open quarantine-free to Kiwi travellers.
She says New Zealand’s border reopening is also reuniting friends and relatives with their loved ones in Fiji after two long years of border closures and they look forward to seeing more and more families reconnected.
Du Toit says despite the low transmission of COVID-19 in Fiji, it is still encouraging to see the COVID-19 protocols that the resorts and tourism operators are employing to keep both tourists and Fijians safe.
She adds they also look forward to the next stages of their Reconnecting New Zealand strategy when they will be welcoming seasonal workers quarantine-free from Fiji later this month and at a later date, travellers from all around the world, including from Fiji and the Pacific.
New Zealand is Fiji’s second largest tourist market.
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