Fiji’s tourism industry earned a total of $FJ2.09 billion (US$1.045 billion) between April and December last year, according to new survey results released this week.
The Fiji 2022 Annual International Visitor Survey (IVS) reports 587,406 tourists travelled to Fiji within the timeframe, with most coming from Australia, New Zealand and United States.
The report revealed tourists spent the most on accommodation, totaling FJ$801 million (US$400.5 million) or 38% of total earnings.
The report identified that international and domestic airfares earned FJ$427 million (US$213.5 million) or 42.7% of tourism revenue while tourists spent FJ$148 million (US$74 million) on restaurants and bars, particularly through meals included in pre-paid packages.
Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Salaseini Daunabua, says Fiji witnessed a remarkable recovery in 2022.
“We’ve seen for the first half of this year; we are breaking month on month records compared to 2019 levels. It is our hope that the IVS Report will serve as a benchmark for both the Government and the industry to measure our performance and take the information to make more informed policy and business decisions,” said PS Daunabuna.
The IVS report is a collaboration between the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and the International Finance Corporation, with support from the Government of Australia. It contains information such as purpose of visit, visitor demography, average nights spent in Fiji, booking and travel trends, expenditure as well as top activities and regions visited.
“Tourism is the pulse of Fiji, providing jobs and supporting livelihoods, as well as being the largest revenue earner for the economy. Supporting tourism and the many businesses that rely on the sector is critical to ensuring sustainable economic growth in Fiji into the future,” said Judith Green, IFC Country Manager for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands.
“The IVS report is also critical. It not only provides insights that will assist tourism stakeholders to make data driven decisions to improve visitor expectations and experiences, but will also boost Fiji’s competitiveness as a tourist destination.”
