After warmly welcoming a record 929,740 visitors in 2023, Tourism Fiji is poised for yet another record year. Early indicators already point towards double-digit growth in arrival numbers for 2024. MATT LEEDHAM reports from the Fiji Tourism Exchange (FTE).
Tourism Fiji celebrated a record calendar year of visitors in 2023, welcoming just under a million arrivals globally. The average stay was a very envious 9.5 nights, and properties reported average occupancy rates upward of 80 per cent.
Australia led the way in visitor arrivals for 2023, with 434,533 Australians (the most ever) travelling to Fiji, easily surpassing the previous record of 367,020 achieved in 2019—equal to a 16.9 per cent rise.
And there are more sunshine smiles on the horizon. Looking ahead to the remainder of 2024, Fiji is setting its sights on saying “Bula!” to an estimated 966,000 visitors and 4 per cent growth for the year.
With no sign of a slowdown almost halfway through the year, Fiji is currently tracking 11 per cent ahead of its target and in line to deliver yet another record-breaking year in tourism arrivals.
What’s behind the success?
Speaking to Karryon, Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill said, “A huge part of the success is down to the amazing work of Fiji Airways with their new aircraft, enhanced connections, and services now to 24 destinations worldwide.”
In a sun-kissed example of how a national carrier and its national tourism board can find the symbiotic sweet spot, Fiji Airways carried a record 2.1 million passengers in 2023 to and from paradise, a seismic lift of 57 per cent over 2022.
Awareness of Fiji’s kaleidoscope of experiences and how to get there was undoubtedly aided by Tourism Fiji’s new branding and “Where Happiness Comes Naturally” advertising campaign launched in January 2023, which was showcased to the world on billboards in Times Square, Shanghai, Vancouver, Sydney and Auckland to name but a few.
Breaking FJ’s best-ever results down by region, Australia rose by 17 per cent and New Zealand by 64 per cent in 2023 versus 2022. Flights to the Pacific Islands notched up a huge 421 per cent rise, with Asia lifting 276 per cent lift and North America elevating by 47 per cent. Fiji’s domestic market also grew by 23 per cent.
According to Fiji Airways Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Akuila Batiweti, airline growth for 2024 is already tracking at around 9.5 per cent ahead of 2023 thanks to continued strong performance from its key source markets in Australia, New Zealand, and North America.
And there’s more big FJ news to come: Another direct Nadi to U.S. route is set to launch, which Batiweti says will be announced imminently and begin operations in the last quarter of 2024.
Niche events, conferences, and new partnerships also attracted new visitors in 2023, including an inaugural Spartan Trifecta event in November that attracted 3,000 participants from around the world and an innovative GoPro Creator Summit in October 2023.
Interestingly, Hill also said more female travellers and female-led groups are now choosing Fiji for its safe, fun, and welcoming environment and wellness offerings, which is a testament to Fiji’s broadening appeal.
“We’ve seen real growth in the 30 to 45 age group generally,” Hill said, “The rise in the female demographic is considerable, with a 55/45 female-male split, which speaks volumes to Fiji being a safe, fun, but not intimidating destination.”
Adventure tourism was also identified as a key demand pillar for Fiji, and a host of new products, including ibike Fiji, Fiji 4WD Safaris and Finding Island Tours, are now on the market.
An Adventure Next Summit in November and The World Surf League Corona Fiji Pro event in August 2024 are also anticipated to raise awareness of more adrenalin-fuelled experiences in Fiji.
What is Fiji’s appeal versus other destinations?
With a recent increase in Australian travellers’ desire for sun, sea, and sand in competing destinations such as Bali, Thailand, and Hawai’i, Hill noted Fiji’s commitment to preserving its authentic charm, saying, “There’s still that worth-it authenticity here.”
“One of the things that I’d really like Australians to understand is that when you compare us to, say, Bali, is there is that component where we’re careful to say we’ve never had more Australians visit, and it’s great, but you’re not tripping over Australians here.”
Fiji’s people and a welcoming atmosphere for families and travellers of all ages are all added key points of difference, with Hill also pointing out short transit times, “It’s very compact… you don’t have all the crazy traffic issues.”
“We talk about meaningful tourism a lot as an industry, but it really matters here,” says Hill.
With under a million people calling the South Pacific archipelago home, the country relies heavily on tourism, which makes up 40 per cent of its GDP and contributed FJD$3.3 billion in 2023.
Reversing the trend against recent overtourism and community pushback in places such as Venice, Barcelona or The Canary Islands, Hill says Fijians see the value of tourism very clearly, “If you ask locals here how they feel about tourism, they’ll generally say it’s great.”
Bouncing back from the tough pandemic years where tourism became non-existent, Hill added, “If you want to know what Fiji looks like without tourism, well, we know what it looks like, and it was terrible.
“From that perspective, the good thing is we’ve got the green light from the Fijian people, which is really important because I think if tourism is fighting with locals, you’re in trouble,” says Hill.
Tourism Fiji also announced the launch of a national initiative at FTE aimed at sustainably tackling littering and promoting proper waste disposal across Fiji. The “If You Can’t Bin It, Bag It” campaign aims to preserve Fiji’s natural beauty and promote responsible practices.
Looking ahead
The widely acknowledged barrier to Fiji’s visitor growth is the current lack of hotel rooms. Tourism Fiji suggests an estimated 5,000 more are needed on top of the existing 14,000 to achieve its longer-term targets.
To aid this challenge, staggered new hotel and resort openings and reopenings, including The Crowne Plaza Nadi, The Western Denarau, Sofitel Vatu Talei Denarau, Radisson Blu Mirage Resort, Hilton Garden In Suva, Waya Island Resort, and Damodar City Labasa Hotel, are all underway.
Up in the skies, Fiji Airways is citing North America as still having the most potential to strengthen its presence in this enormous market in 2024. Fiji Airways Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Akuila Batiweti said, “We’ll build on this year by expanding our reach further into North America and exploring new direct destinations, codeshares, and interline agreements.”
A direct benefit of Fiji Airways’s expansion will also be more capacity, competitive airfares, and connections to and from North America, Canada, and Australia via Nadi.
Asked how Fiji aims to achieve its full-year 2024 visitation goal, Hill commented, “We know that last year we had some incredible statistics through our peak period, so we’re hoping that we can keep that trend going. So there’s a little bit of upside there that we can get to, and hopefully closer to that magic one million number.”
Tourism Fiji plans to transform the country’s visitor economy from FJD$3.3 billion to FJD$4.3 billion over the next four years.
“Of course, that relies on continued investment and flow through, but that’s really exciting,” concluded Hill.
Read FTE 2024: Fiji Airways thanks agents for two record years of “Growing together”
The Fiji Tourism Exchange (FTE) 2024 took place from 5-7 May 2024 at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort in Denarau.
