New initiative to boost Fijian tourism

The Ministry of Public Enterprises, Communications, Civil Aviation and Tourism together with eight heads of organisations affiliated with tourism, today discussed about a new project initiated by the Ministry of Tourism titled “Fijian Hosts”.

Permanent Secretary of tourism Fiji, Elizabeth Powell conducted a presentation on the importance of maintaining a warm but protective environment at the Nadi International Airport.

“Nadi airport is the first and the last place a tourist visits when they arrive in Fiji and it is important to maintain a calm and polite environment as tourism contributes a lot to Fiji’s economy,” Powell said.

The Nadi airport front-liners are Air Terminal Services (ATS), Airports Fiji Ltd (AFL), Biosecurity Authority of Fiji (BAF), Border Police, Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority, Immigration, Ministry of Health and Tyco International Ltd.

The project involves members from various organisations to train and provide better customer service to not only the tourists but also the Fijians arriving from abroad, added Powell.

“The major developments in Fiji are another reason why we should improve on healthy and protective tourism here at home,” Powell added.

Major developments are currently underway at the Fiji Airways, Casino, Grand Pacific Hotel, Nadi International Airport and Nausori Airport, stated Powell.

Air Pacific's General Manager for In-flight Services, Shaenaz Voss said, “It is not only the tourists who are actually coming to Fiji for vacation to be accommodated well by Fijians but it should be the same for transiting visitors as well, as they would want to visit Fiji sometimes later.”

Present during the presentation was Minister for Tourism, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum who reiterated on the importance of improving tourism services in Fiji.

“It is essential to improve tourism services in Fiji because unlike other countries, Fiji is not being supported by other states in regards to its tourism ventures, as they self fund it all the time,” Sayed-Khaiyum said.

He also added on the importance of “Fijian” branding across the world nowadays, as Fiji is in competition with countries like, Maldives, Mauritius, Thailand and Bali.

This new initiative is set to boost the Fijian economy to more than $4 billion dollars by 2022 and creating more than 60,000 direct employments in Fiji, added Powell.

By Indrani Krishna