Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says they are still pushing regional neighbours like Australia and New Zealand to open their doors and heart to a travel bubble with Fiji.
Bainimarama highlighted this at the Fiji Excellence Awards Annual Presentations at the Sofitel Resort and Spa in Denarau.
He says from our blue lanes for yachts, vacation in paradise, VIP lanes to the support towards the Love Your Locals program, we have showed the world that we are willing and able to innovate and adapt to support our vital tourism industry.
Bainimarama says Fiji belongs in the quarantine free regional travel arrangement for the Pacific.
He also told the business owners that the government has dramatically dropped taxes and a subsidy scheme is in place for when the borders do reopen.
Bainimarama says in the next budget they will be looking at other innovative ways that they can give businesses the drive to kick start this industry.
The Prime Minister has also assured families that are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that the government has their back.
He says the government has already directly paid out over $118 million in unemployment benefits and that support has gone mostly to those in the tourism sector and even those who have managed to secure work on the weekends.
Bainimarama says this will continue as will their effort to tap into new opportunities and create new paths forward. Bainimarama also paid tribute to the late Dixon Seeto and says he was a dear friend and a tourism heavyweight.
He says Seeto played such an outsized leadership role in shaping the tourism industry and reminded him that tourism was the single most important driver of the Fijian economy.
