MINISTER FAIYAZ KOYA'S SPEECH AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THE LOVE OUR LOCALS CAMPAIGN

Industry Stakeholders,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentleman,
 
Bula Vinaka and a very warm welcome to you all.
 
It is my pleasure to officially launch the “Love our Locals” Campaign.
 
This Campaign is a very important initiative to build consumer confidence and ignite economic activity in the tourism sector.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, domestic tourism is not new. It’s something the Fijian Government has always strongly advocated.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, I urge you to consider the message behind the Love Our Locals Campaign and get behind our country. This is an opportune time for us to show support to our tourism industry and our people.
 
As we Fijians start taking part in tourism, we’re supporting not just hotels, but Fijians associated with the industry – the staff of the hotel, the farmers who supplies, the handicraft sellers. And of course, you’re keeping businesses open and running.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fiji has just cleared the last of our active COVID-19 patients. It’s now been 45 days since we recorded our last case and Fiji has recorded a 100% recovery rate.
 
These are positive signs. When we start travelling within Fiji, it gives a confidence to our international partners that Fiji is safe and ready to welcome them.
 
As they say, trust is now the new currency of the new normal. And to build and maintain this trust, we have developed a set of COVID Safe Guidelines to help the industry adapt to this new normal.
 
This is our home and we need to build back the foundation stronger for a better Fiji for all. Fijians need to be the biggest advocates of the Fijian tourism industry. We need to be more patriotic and put your money where your heart is.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I take this opportunity to wish our partners well for the Love Our Locals Campaign and encourage Fijians to support local businesses and tourism operators.
 
To those businesses that have come on board to offer exclusive packages for Fijians, we thank you and encourage you to use this time to capture the local market as much as possible.
 
Thank you and Vinaka Vakalevu.