Tourism Fiji acting chief executive officer Michael Meeds says weddings can be among Fiji’s major market segments, especially for tourists from Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Meeds was at the “Marry Me” expo organised by Tourism Fiji at the Warwick Resort and Spa in the Coral Coast on Friday, which more than 100 travel agents from Australia, New Zealand, USA, and Europe attended.
Mr Meed said Fiji was in the top market of wedding destinations internationally.
“In terms of tropical island venues for weddings, Fiji has to be at the top because it has good air transportation from the major markets. Its good infrastructure can handle weddings and the facilitation of weddings is relatively easy here,” he said.
“A typical wedding from Australia and New Zealand can mean 40 to 80 people and 100 sometimes and they might stay in Fiji for a week.
“The wedding market stimulates a lot of business like transportation and other services that go with organising a wedding.
“Of course weddings in Fiji are hugely popular in our major markets from celebrities to of course ordinary people.”
Mr Meed said Fiji had witnessed many generations of people who got married here and they had become advocates for Fiji .
Australian travel agent David Bental said they had been sending many people to Fiji for weddings and honeymoons.
“Fiji is very close to home, the people are very friendly and give good value for money and everybody wants to come back again,” Mr Bental said.
“Since the Australian dollar is quite strong they can afford to go to various resorts to get married.
“Price wise it is very competitive in Fiji and we are seeing a lot of people being attracted here for honeymoons, weddings and holidays,” he added.
Mr Sylvester Medeira from Travel Councilor in Australia, who is here for the first time, is optimistic of the future of Fiji’s wedding market.
“It looks like the wedding market is going to be very big in Fiji in the future because you got potential and there are so many beautiful places, especially the islands. Each island is very different and people are looking for something different for their special occasion,” Mr Medeira said.
“There is so much options being given here which are basically spoiling our clients back in Melbourne. The best part is there are some only exclusive to adults and some exclusively to the family. Indeed Fijis is catering beautifully for both markets.”