24 March 2009

Fiji arrivals drop by a quarter

NADI Ã¢â¬' Storms, both tropical and financial, have combined to hit Fiji tourism arrivals.

Tourism Fiji chairman Patrick Wong predicts tourist numbers for the first quarter of 2009 will be down 25 per cent on last year.

Wong said January 2009 statistics showed 32,955 visitor arrivals, a 27.6 per cent drop when compared to last January.

He said occupancy levels were soft throughout the region but believed the worst could be over.

February and March, the traditional low season months, had also been hit by the global financial crisis, Wong said.

A tropical storm that hit in mid January, killing 11 people and destroying hundreds of homes and businesses, also deterred hundreds of potential travellers from Australia and New Zealand.

Occupancy rates in hotels are as low as 20 to 40 per cent, says the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association.

Association president Dixon Seeto told the Fiji Tmes the low room occupancy rates included major properties.

He said some resorts could even record lower than 20 per cent.

Many properties were giving huge discounts but despite that the length of stay had dropped, he added.

The Fiji tourism board has launched a large-scale Australasian campaign to attract tourists.

More than 210,000 Australians visited Fiji last year, accounting for more than a third of short-term arrivals.