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Hotels around Fiji are finding difficulty in filling rooms, the Reserve Bank of Fiji has revealed.
This was indicated by the central bank in its latest economic review for August while reporting a slight growth of visitor arrivals for the period.
Governor RBF Savenaca Narube said visitor arrivals grew by around 12 per cent on an annual basis, cumulative to July this year.
He said this figures also exceeded the Fiji Islands Visitors Bureau's forecast for the period by 3.5 per cent.
"However, filling hotel rooms remains a challenge given an approximate 20 per cent increase in rooms from 2005 to 2007," Narube said.
He told participants at the interim Prime Minister's mini-economic summit yesterday that tourism largely remained the key driver of economic growth
in Fiji today and into the future.
He also highlighted in the RBF's economic review improved performances in other resource-based industries such as mineral water, fisheries, timber and garment.
Narube adds that gold production was also rising gradually from last year's level.
"Nonetheless, sugar production had a slow start to the crushing season as a result of mill breakdowns and transportation problems – expectations are that the performance will pick up in the approaching months," he said.
