In a recent effort to increase visitor footfalls from India, Fiji organised a six city roadshow in India. The roadshow kicked off in Mumbai and continued in Delhi, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Chennai and concluded in Benglauru. In the first half of 2017, the destination has witnessed a 28 per cent growth in visitor footfall from India.
Speaking about the growth, Matthew Stoeckel, Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Fiji said, “For the last five years, we have grown by 20 per cent YoY for visitor arrivals into Fiji. This year the growth rate has accelerated to 28 per cent. We are very optimistic with this growth rates to further increase with improved access with twice weekly Fiji Airways service from Singapore to Nadi and the codehshare with Jet Airways reaching to three cities in India; Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai.”
The destination is now witnessing a lot of new developments in terms of infrastructure. Also a lot of the luxury hospitality chains are now looking to open up properties in Fiji. This year Six Senses is all set to debut in Fiji.
Speaking about the infrastructure development in the country Stoeckel said, “We have just completed US$126 mn modernisation of our Nadi International Airport and surrounding road infrastructure to it. Mobing around Fiji will be much easier now. This year we have also got a new resort the Marriott Fiji Momi Bay Resort with 250 rooms and its located just outside Nadi. We have Kokomo Private Resort and Six Senses Resort opening shortly in Fiji. We have got some luxury products.”
From India, certain trends has changed over the years, the travellers have evolved. Now, most of the Indian travellers prefer luxury products in Fiji. Also, the average length of stay from India has increase to five to six nights.
Vaijayanthi Kari, India Representative, Tourism Fiji said, “The Indian outbound travel segment has grown leaps and bounds in the past few years. The itinerary that is being preferred by travellers is one of the main changes we have seen. Indians visiting Fiji are choosing various outdoor and culture experiences in addition to experiencing water-based activities and spending their day at the beach in Fiji. We are also seeing a spike in luxury travel, making full use of the offerings of some of our premium properties.”
The major traditional source markets for Fiji are Australia which constitutes 45 per cent of travellers followed by New Zealand with 15 to 18 per cent and North America with eight to 10 per cent. These markets constitute around 75 per cent of the overall footfall. India is one of their fast emerging markets.
Speaking about the access and the MICE segment Stoeckel said, “Access has certainly improved; it wasn’t easier to get into Fiji. Now, one can get through Singapore or Hong Kong. But it’s still a one stop destination and there are no direct services. But Fiji can be a nice coupling with Singapore, people may bundle their trip along with Singapore. Fiji has some fantastic MICE infrastructure that are capitalised by our short haul markets. But as of now we are focused on the leisure market from India.”
