Fiji tourism operators are deep in preparations to welcome international visitors back to the tourism-dependent nation.
Fiji has announced the opening of borders to Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Qatar, Germany, Spain, France, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Switzerland, Japan and most Pacific Island countries and territories.
Travellers aged 18 years and above must be fully vaccinated with either the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or the Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccines. Travellers aged 12 years and above must show a negative RT-PCR result for COVID-19 from a test taken within three days of departure. At Nadi Airport, immediately upon arrival, all travellers must download careFIJI onto their phones.
Welcoming the announcement, CEO for the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, Fantasha Lockington noted that “We understand implicitly that the COVID fight is nowhere near over, but are far more confident now that we know what we must continue to do to keep the communities we work in, our workers and our guests safe. We are keenly aware that we have only one chance to get our reopening right, and that our success will mean thousands get their jobs back, SME’s that have been closed can reopen, and that everything we do right will have a positive knock-on effect for many other sectors of our economy.”
Conditions for travel
From November 11, tourists from travel-partner countries will spend their first two days in Fiji on their hotel premises, with use of all hotel amenities. Then, a Rapid Diagnostic Test taken 48 hours after their arrival will grant them free reign of safe-travel areas. The government is drawing up those borders now, but they will exclude areas of low vaccination coverage but “ideally” will include outer islands, the entire Coral Coast, Taveuni, Kadavu, and all of the North.
Returning residents from travel-partner countries or those visiting friends and relatives, will spend three days on hotel premises in Fiji, before a negative COVID-19 test result will allow these travellers to enter Fijian communities in any location.
Travellers from countries that are not yet travel-safe partners will still need to be fully vaccinated, and will complete a ten-day stint in a traditional quarantine centre upon arrival in Fiji before a negative COVID-19 test result clears them to enter the community.
Fiji Airways schedules
Fiji Airways resumes commercial flights for fully vaccinated travellers from 1 December. It has scheduled:
- 14 flights a week between Nadi and Sydney on the Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 737 MAX aircraft
- Daily flights to Melbourne and Brisbane
- Daily A350 flights to Los Angeles, five flights a week from San Francisco on its A330 aircraft, and two flights a week from Honolulu utilising the Boeing 737 MAX.
- Daily flights between Nadi and Auckland, three flights a week to Christchurch, and two flights a week to Wellington
- Three flights per week to Hong Kong, and two weekly flights to Singapore and Tokyo-Narita
This schedule may be adjusted depending on border restrictions or changes in the destination countries.
Hotels prepare
The Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay is open for bookings. The Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort, Sheraton Resort & Spa, Tokoriki Island and Sheraton Denarau Villas are all currently taking bookings for stays commencing from April 2022.
Marriott International’s other properties include The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa, which is being refurbished and is due to open in late 2022, and the Sheraton Denarau Villas which is due to open in April 2022.