SUVA (FBC News/Pacnews) — Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Tourism Shaheen Ali said tourism numbers are looking comfortable and half a million tourists are expected to visit Fiji this year.
Fiji’s tourism industry is making huge strides in its post-Covid recovery efforts.
Despite a full recovery projected for 2024, the industry has been able to significantly recover tourism numbers during the pre-Covid period.
“For the first half of this year,” Ali said, “we’ve recovered over half our tourism numbers from the same period in 2019. June arrivals were 73% of the same month pre-pandemic. By the end of 2022, we are expecting at least 500,000 visitors, with a full recovery expected by 2024.”
Ali said the tourism industry remains a revenue arm of the government that continues to perform well post-pandemic.
“The current status, ladies and gentlemen, is that we’re in a very good place. Our economy is projected to grow by 12.4% this year (by conservative estimates) — the highest rate of growth ever. And this has been fueled by travel and tourism,” Ali said.
The tourism industry continues to dominate throughout the wider economy, accounting for roughly 40% of Fiji’s GDP both directly and indirectly.
