 |
 |
 |
  |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
"What happened after the coup was that people who did come to Fiji felt even more strongly about recommending Fiji when they got home and it probably led to the immunity of the industry to the crisis," says Ms Caz Dennis of Tebutt Research. Speaking at the International Visitors Survey Workshop held at the Lagoon Resort Pacific Harbour, Ms Dennis discussed statistics and patterns compiled by the Ministry of Tourisms Planning and Research Unit, from the year 2005 to mid June 2008 that worked with Tebbutt Research analysing data for interest groups in the tourism industry in Fiji on what international tourists visit Fiji for. Two ways of measuring tourism is by numbers and the length of stay whereby in Fiji, tourism has been traditionally measured by numbers.
The International Visitors Survey Workshop held at the Lagoon Resort Pacific Harbour discussed statistics and patterns compiled by the Ministry of Tourism’s Planning and Research Unit, from the year 2005 to mid June 2008 and in partnership with Tebbutt Research analysed data for interest groups in the tourism industry in Fiji on what international tourists visit Fiji for. One of the major concerns at the height of the 2006 coup was the drop in visitor arrivals but in comparison to other coups that Fiji has gone through the Tourism industry has done better than the past. "In terms of numbers, Fiji has been quite resilient in tourist numbers as compared to the 2000 coup but they are growing," Ms Caz Dennis of Tebbutt Research said. Most people come to Fiji for a holiday and though there has been a decline over the past few years the people coming for the purpose of education has increased or has not been affected by any circumstances. This Dennis adds has become a new form of tourism where regional and international students coming to study in Fiji also have the chance to experience what Fiji has to offer academically and as a tourist destination. The provinces of Ba and Nadroga enjoy most of the Tourism (a key requirement of the IVS) Deuba also has attracted a considerable number of tourists. "We see that backpackers tend to travel a lot more to the destinations that are heavily marketed overseas and these tend to receive a lot more of these type of holiday seekers," Ms Dennis said. Research has also found that Fiji has lost ground in terms of luring ‘couple market’ has been lost to other competitors who have put up better packages for this type of tourists. "We also see as an indication that the family market is growing based on what the statistics have shown marketing towards this type of tourism has attracted tourists to this particular establishment than those who market for couples as this is declining as the choices for couples is growing with competition from the Asian markets and as such countries like New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia offering competitive rates for couples. In looking at the size of Fiji’s tourism industry at the length of nights spent is 4.771 million visitors nights and it was noted that Pacific Islanders who are here apart from a transit point to other destinations such as the USA and Europe are here for educational purposes. "Pacific islanders provide 9% of visitor nights and they tend to stay longer due to the trend of educational purposes. "We should stop thinking about visitor arrivals as long as they are staying longer nights and are thinking about hotel beds and the amount of money that’s going into the Fiji economy," Ms Dennis said. Australia it has been noted that though its number to Fiji is steady there has been a trend for them to stay longer. Education Tourism is an important and growing area for Fiji when you look at it in terms of nights. Coral coast is a also very positive area for visitor nights. In terms of visitor nights Nadi is the No.1 for all visitor nights with the exception of Australia and Pacific islands "Australia spends more nights on the Coral Coast and the for Pacific Islanders the number one area traveled to is Nausori. "For Taveuni and Vanua Levu the market of USA is important there," Ms Dennis said. For the type of holidaymaker or type of visitor, Nadi has been seen as to be popular with hosting conferences and most of these are for regional conferences and business meetings. Fiji’s tourism is not only about the holiday makers sector but also for other sectors like education where the Japanese and Asian markets are growing and people e do not know about these as they use private accommodation. "This can also be said about business travels that use private accommodation whereby travel is solo," Ms Dennis said.
It also has to be noted that the IVS only collects data on money spent in Fiji and approximately 354milllio dollars had been spent for the year 2007 by visitors in Fiji and of which 138 million dollars was spent by Australians so that market in important to Fiji’s Tourism economy. "Visitors from the USA spent the longest time here in Fiji per person per night followed by Australia and NZ," Ms Dennis said. 25 per cent of all international visitors to Fiji pay for any accommodation in Nadi so 75 per cent either pre pay or don't pay. It was also noted that air travel or the use of domestic airlines for travel by tourists is not maximized. "Domestic airfares revenue by tourists is so low because hardly anybody buys domestic are fares many transfers are done from Nadi by road or boat but for those who do the spending is quite high. "If you look at what people are spending on, the average contribution to spas, there are things like the development of the spa market as an expense which are phenomenal and there a lot of these things opening up everywhere its huge," Ms Dennis said. With regards to those that frequent the services of spas, it is seen that the Americans and the Australians are the most stressed. The reasons why people come to Fiji and their impressions of Fiji basically has not changed and has remained over the years and it is seen that advocacy plays a key role in way people feel about Fiji and how the recommendations of people helps the attraction of tourists to Fiji. One of the reasons why advocacy is important is because as about 10 per cent of holidaymakers are backpackers. Visitors to Fiji are advocates of Fiji and it is known for years that there are repeat visitors to Fiji, which help the industry in attracting new tourists. "Properties in Fiji are very good in developing a sort of relationship with repeat visitors and welcome them year after year." -End- No: 1826 |
|
|
 |
     |
