Faltering Fiji dollar good news for tourists
NADI – Tourism Fiji CEO Josefa Tuamoto has described the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s decision to devalue the Fiji dollar by 20 percent as potentially a timely windfall for the destination’s tourism industry.
“In a nutshell the devaluation means there has never been a better time to holiday in Fiji,†he said.
“Like other destinations around the globe, Fiji has felt the effects of the current economic turndown since the beginning of the year.
“Our situation was further compounded by the state of floods affecting the destination in mid-January which obviously had an impact on what traditionally is one of our strongest months of the year.
“So the devaluation can be considered very timely in many respects.
“There were some pockets within the international travel industry that had implied the destination was becoming over priced,†Tuamoto added.
“That is certainly not the case now as the devaluation will bring the Fiji dollar in line with the currencies in our major source markets – and especially Australia and New Zealand – where we will be driving the value for money message as part of our overall marketing of the destination.â€
The devaluation of the Fiji dollar comes during a tense political period in the Pacific nation following last week’s decision by the Fijian Appeal Court that military boss Frank Bainimarama had ruled illegally since his coup.
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo responded by sacking the judiciary, abolishing the constitution and appointing Commodore Frank Bainimarama and his government to rule for another five years.
The Australian government this week revised its travel warning on Fiji but did not change the overall level of advice for visitors to “exercise cautionâ€.
Ian Jarrett
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