The Fiji Tourism Exchange kicked off with a bang on Sunday night at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort in Port Denarau, complete with local dancers and drummers to celebrate its official opening.
The welcome event was attended by Fiji Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka, Tourism Fiji CEO Brent Hill and Fiji Airways CEO Andre Viljoen.
Hill spoke of Fiji’s “spectacular” past 12 months, marking its most successful in recorded history, as it ended 2024 with its millionth visitor, taking into account the 982,938 visitors who arrived by air and the 81,854 cruise passengers.
“It’s a really significant milestone, and it’s not just a number,” he said. “It represents jobs created, businesses strengthened, communities supported and global hearts won over by the Fijian experience.”
While Hill made mention of “geopolitical impacts” that dominate the headlines, he pointed to Fiji’s “spectacular” past 12 months and the 16 projects and 2,600 rooms currently under construction.
“Fiji is hot right now – and I don’t just mean the temperature. It is this newness and this investment that will help meet the challenge of growing year on year, which we need to do,” he said, also noting the 35-45% of tourists who are repeat visitors to Fiji.
One of many key focuses for the Fiji tourism industry this year is around value to tourists, especially as markets have yo-yo-ed over the last month.
“We recognise the success of our industry, but while we wait for that supply to come on, [it] has put upward pressure on prices, and we need as an industry to continue to provide value,” Hill noted.
“We also believe that value is in what you can do in Fiji that you can’t do anywhere else. So you can have beaches to yourself, you can have reefs to yourself, you can have sand bars to yourself.”
FTE took place at the Sheraton Fiji Golf and Beach Resort in Port Denarau this week, featuring an exhibition hall, networking opportunity and agenda focused on connecting tourism operators and international buyers with Fijian experiences, hotels and activities.
