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Fiji’s tourism industry is well placed to benefit from a strong Australian dollar says Westpac Australia chief economist Bill Evans.
Addressing the joint meeting of the Fiji/Australia and Australia/Fiji business councils in Nadi at the weekend, Evans said the Australian economy was expected to grow by four percent next year.
He said growth would be driven by consumer spending and mining while interest rates developments in the US markets were boosting the strength of the Australian dollar, promoting record tourism departures in Australia.
Evans told the 100-plus participants at the meeting that in September this year, short term departures stood at over 450,000 compared to a little over 350,000 in September 2005 and just under 300,000 in September 2000, denoting a rising trend.
Fiji, as a destination for Australian tourists, should expect to benefit from this as well as the resilience of the Australian economy showing long term potentials for more growth, he said.
Reserve Bank Governor Sada Reddy told the meeting that Fiji is banking on tourism this year to drive economic growth and said he hopes that tourism picks up strongly next year.
