New Tourist Targets Set for 2010

www.fijisun.com.fj - 11/12/2009

Tourism Fiji has set a target of 600,000 visitor arrivals for 2010 while announcing its marketing strategy at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa in Nadi yesterday. The figures are the same as what they had projected for this year. However, the flash floods in January had a massive impact on visitor arrivals. Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Officer, Josefa Tuamoto, said 2009 was one of the toughest years for the tourism industry. "We basically just dropped (this year) and the hope for next year is to achieve the target of 2009. We had a very solid plan for 2009 but come January, the whole plan was out of the window because of the disaster that struck us," he said. Government allocated a budget of $23.5 million to Tourism Fiji which will be used to market the country abroad. Tuamoto said they were expecting a growth in the industry next year. "This year has been a very tough year. We were able to gather together as an industry to work to create strategies in our different markets. Some of the strategies did work, some fell on their faces but we have learnt from it. We are moving together as a destination to try and break that so that in the future when we are faced with these calamities we will be able to look back and see the lessons of the past. "Performance to date from a global perspective is tough. It has been a tough year UNWTO projects about 7 per cent down this year compared to last year but in 2010 we are looking at a slight growth of 2 per cent. In our managers meeting we have discussed some of our plans for 2010 and one of our colleagues said in her region, there would be a growth of 0.2 per cent. We are very excited about that because at least it's a growth and not a decline." Don’t rely on Australia, says tourism chief 11/12/2009 The tourism industry’s dependence on the Australian market is a concern for Tourism Fiji. Australia is one of the biggest players having 42 per cent of the overall visitor numbers to the country with New Zealand second on 18 per cent and Europe on 15 per cent. Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Officer, Joe Tuamoto yesterday said they would need to look at other markets to strengthen its future. Mr Tuamoto said should the Australian economy collapse it would be catastrophic for Fiji. He said in order to safeguard the tourism industry, they would have to look at markets like Japan, Korea, China and India. “The concern from Tourism Fiji's perspective is on the over reliance on one single market at 42 per cent. “If the Australian economy goes down than we are in trouble,” said Mr Tuamoto. “We need to be looking at other markets to be able to prop up should something happen to the Australian market.” Mr Tuamoto said they hope the arrival of new airlines, V Australia and Jetstar, would bring a higher number of arrivals from Australia. “With confirmation that V Australia is coming in on December 18 as well as noise being made by Jetstar, we see that might be an issue with the Australian market,” he said. “My wish from Tourism Fiji that these new players coming into the market will not only just take market share, but I hope they can increase the market because we are already getting some good lifts out of the eastern sea board. “I’m hoping that these new players will be able to open up Australia with their distribution strength otherwise we will just be stuck with the numbers that we have now.” Tourism Fiji on a mission 11/12/2009 Tourism Fiji has adopted the mission statement, 'Taking the quantum leap,' as its goal to achieve one million visitor arrivals by 2016. Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Officer, Josefa Tuamoto, said next year would prove to be vital if they were to reach the target in seven years. Mr Tuamoto said Fiji has the resources to fulfill the desired visitor arrivals. He said having more visitor arrivals during off-peak period would increase the number. "We are taking the quantum leap trying to move to 2016 with one million visitors. That's really the quantum leap that we are talking about but we have to start somewhere and 2010 for us will be the key. "It has taken us about 50 years to reach 500,000 or 600,000 visitors. Our hope and the lead that we want to take it from 500,000 to one million visitors in less than seven years. We have put the stakes on the ground and we need everybody's help to be able to deliver this. "We can deliver this if we all work together to try and achieve these numbers. We have about 10,000 rooms on the ground and just targeting the off season, we will be able to reach 800,000 to 900,000." Tourism Fiji's budget theme for 2010 is, Strengthening the foundation for economic growth and prosperity. The marketing arm of the tourism industry announced its 2010 marketing strategy at the InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa yesterday.