06 January 2010

Fiji bounce back gathers momentum

SYDNEY - Figures released this week by Tourism Fiji show a total of 27,531 Australians visited Fiji in October, that figure eclipsing the previous record set in September 2009.

The October 2009 result brings Fiji’s Australian visitor tally for the year to 189,603, now just 2.3 per cent down on the 194,063 figure achieved for the January - October period last year,

Tourism Fiji regional director Australia, Paresh Pant, said he was confident this deficit would be fully corrected by year’s end based on preliminary figures advised by the NTO’s airline partners for November.

All of these, he said, had registered extremely positive load factors on the Australia-Fiji sector throughout the month and into early December.

"In the face of everything that has come our way in 2009, our Australian visitor arrivals figures have continued to build exponentially and are a huge cry from the huge drop we recorded in the first three months of this year," he said.

Meanwhile, Air Pacific is offering a range of Hot Summer return fares from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to Nadi for travellers wanting to travel during February and March.

Prices from Brisbane start at $500, Sydney $410 and Melbourne $538 inclusive of taxes.

These fares can only be used between February 1 and March 31 if they are booked by March 5.

Other discounted fares are available for travel between January 24 and September 30.