Fiji Hotel loses big tourist group booking
A report in The Fiji Times today says that the Shangri-La Fijian Hotel in Sigatoka says it lost $12,000 after a tour group cancelled 90 rooms following the expulsion of the New Zealand High Commissioner.
The hotel’s Sales and Marketing director, Peter Donlevy, said the cancelled booking was for tour group from New Zealand.
Minister for Tourism Bernadette Rounds-Ganilau said the industry was struggling and she was in contact with them all the time, adding, “I am respectful of the industry and was asked at the tourism forum what we can do together and I told them we could work together for the betterment of the industry.”
“If we give the industry $1, they would give us 100 times more as the spin-offs are immense.”
Travellers were warned on June 14, after NZ High Commissioner Michael Green was sent home, to travel with caution to Fiji.
Mr Donlevy said the hotel experienced a 100 % because of the tourism forum but, otherwise, they were hitting the 84% mark for June and were hoping to achieve a 60 per cent occupancy rate in July.
“The hotel has dropped rates to 50% so that hotel workers can keep their job,” he said.
Mr Donlevy said the tour group had booked to come to Fiji last November but after the December coup, went to the Shangri-La hotel in Cairns instead.
“Lately we have won their bookings back but after the incident last week, they told us they would only book 60 rooms instead of the 150 they initially asked for.”
Report by The Mole and The Fiji Times
John Alwyn-Jones
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