One of Australia’s most popular markets made headlines this week for its association with that dreaded word, ‘tax’.
In July, the Fijian Government announced that a 5% levy would be applied to hotels, tour operators, and cruise lines with an annual turnover of more than FJ$2 million (A$1.3 million) from 01 September.
It would appear that the rationale for the tax was an admirable one, to assist with funding Fiji Airways’ growth plans.
While the economic merits of such an impost represent its own debate, the way in which the government plans to implement the tax was the element raising the most eyebrows this week.
One of those vexed faces was Helloworld executive director and COO Cinzia Burnes, who told Travel Daily that Fiji’s decision to apply the tax to bookings that have already been made would cause a major customer and administrative headache.
Even if Fiji trips had been paid for in full months ago for travel after 01 September, the new levy will require travellers to fork out the extra 5%, in the process placing travel agents in the awkward position of having to go back to clients and edit bookings.
However, Helloworld has staked out a clear position on the matter, arguing that it should be Fijian suppliers who recoup the additional cost – not its network of advisors.
“Many of these bookings were confirmed months ago, often on a fully-paid basis, with customers having made their purchasing decisions based on the price that was quoted and accepted at the time of booking,” COO and executive director Cinzia Burnes stated in planned correspondence with suppliers.
“Beyond the operational burden, it would inevitably result in confusion…for customers who reasonably expect previously confirmed prices to remain unchanged,” Burnes added.
The other side of the debate is whether implementing a tourism tax was a very wise move to begin with, especially in a climate of heavy cost-crunching.
While Fiji is a tremendously successful tourism destination – especially with Aussies and Kiwis – it’s also true that with airfares and jet fuel prices spiking, many travellers are already feeling the financial pinch.
Any policy that makes a destination less competitive at such a perilous time surely has the potential to cause some economic harm.
Australia is blessed with its proximity to a plethora of beautiful tropical destinations, from Bali to the Cook Islands and onward to Vanuatu – it’s fair to say we have some serious choice in the market.
It should be noted that Fiji is top dog in this field, however, accounting for the largest number of visitors and attracting plenty of Aussie investment in recent years.
But as an opinion piece penned by prominent meteorologist Sushil Sharma in The Fiji Times recently stated, an added financial burden could dampen that healthy demand and hurt many of the country’s small- to mid-sized tourism businesses, pointing out that the levy uses revenue and not profit as its criteria.
While the revenue raised will be used to make Fiji Airways stronger, which in turn will assist tourism opportunities, it is also fair to say that the carrier services a host of stakeholders beyond tourists.
This brings into question whether it is fair or sensible to ask visitors to foot the bill for what is essentially a national asset that services a number of key services across the country.
That point appears even more salient in light of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service collecting a net revenue of FJ$3.510 billion for the financial year ended 31 July 2026 – the highest annual collection ever recorded by the service.
Just saying.
In other news this week, I was fortunate enough to land a chat with Western Sydney Airport (WSI) CEO Simon Hickey.
With WSI’s first passenger flights taking off on 25 October, it felt like the right time to check in and see how the hub was shaping up before the big launch day.
While there has been some criticism around the arguably lower-than-expected number of carriers signed on to WSI, Hickey insisted there was a multitude of discussions going on with a diverse range of domestic and international carriers.
One of those was Vietjet, which this week joined Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines as international operators.
The Vietnamese carrier – which has already submitted plans to operate domestic flights in Australia – will offer two weekly return services between Ho Chi Minh City and WSI from January 2027, before stepping up the frequency to three weekly return flights in March.
Vietjet also revealed that its joint-venture, Thai Vietjet, has submitted plans to operate four weekly services between WSI and Bangkok from November 2027, subject to regulatory approvals.
Hickey told me that WSI’s 24/7 appeal was a major pull factor in negotiations, adding that Western Sydney’s diverse diaspora of residents also placed the airport in the sweet spot to ink a myriad of deals with carriers across Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific.
Watch out for more reporting on WSI next week in Travel Daily.
In other developments, the controversial plan to increase the Passenger Movement Charge (PMC) from $70 to $80 again received some heat from travel stakeholders.
One of those was Board of Airline Representatives of Australia (BARA) executive director Stephen Pearse, who told Travel Daily the unjustified hike may result in international airlines re-evaluating their current operations and future growth plans for Australia.
“The government has now increased the PMC by 33% – $20 per passenger – in just three years, a charge which is already amongst the highest in the world,” Pearse said.
He also made the point that while the government may make revenue gains in the short term, if it makes Australia a less attractive destination for overseas airlines, it will result in a financial own goal in the long run at any rate.
Time will tell.
There was a win of sorts this week for airlines though, with negotiations successfully convincing the government to alter its bill so that the PMC is calculated based on the passenger’s departure date rather than the date a ticket is sold.
The government had originally afforded a much shorter transition period when the PMC changes were announced, prompting an outcry from carriers that were concerned about footing the bill for tickets booked before the changes formally take effect.
A silver lining amid the clouds, it would seem.
While the week contained plenty of consternation about the cost of doing business in Australia, it would be remiss of me not to highlight the big wins this week as well.
At sea, we reported on Royal Caribbean expanding its Australian deployment for its 2027/28 local summer lineup.
Highlights included Ovation of the Seas slated to deliver the brand’s biggest-ever Brisbane season alongside Voyager of the Seas, while Anthem of the Seas was confirmed for a return to Sydney.
Outside of the Vietjet news, in the air we saw Air India plan an increase of flights between Delhi and Sydney from seven to 11 times a week from 27 October, restoring cuts made to the route earlier this year.
We also reported on plans by new Vietnamese player Sun PhuQuoc Airways to make its Australian entry in the first half of next year.
We had been following its movements pretty closely over the last 12 months, with our journos’ sleuthing back in April revealing its intention to appoint a GSA in Australia.
And to finish on a slightly unnerving note, more than 2,000 video gamers across the US have just made their basement-bound hobby a career, with the US Department of Transportation hiring them as air traffic controllers to alleviate staff shortages.
The US Government is of the belief that the skills developed through gaming such as multitasking, spatial awareness, rapid decision-making, and the ability to concentrate under pressure were prime attributes to make a good sky cop.
Now, I’m not much of a gamer myself, but if my posse of game-loving, Twisty-munching, sweaty arm-chaired mates are anything to go by – Houston, we have a problem.
