Kevin Millard says Fiji Visitors Bureau needs to work with agents

Kevin Millard, Aussie travel industry icon and GM of TATS visited Bula Fiji Tourism Exchange last month [pictured right at BFTE] and told The Mole that his objective in attending BFTE was to get some confidence back in Fiji with the Aussie tourism industry from the agents’ perspective.

He also said that he wanted to get back to the real reason TATS started in the first place, which was interestingly to encourage agents to come to Fiji and then sell on to fare paying passengers.

The Mole spoke with Kevin this morning to gain his reaction to the news of the expulsion of the New Zealand High Commissioner and how it might impact tourism to Fiji and he said, “When the coup took place in 2000 FVB realised they needed to get agents across to Fiji convince them that Fiji was safe, that there was nothing going on and that they could recommend Fiji to their clients.” 

“It worked fantastically well and was critical in the recovery of business to Fiji.”

“This time they did not include agents in their promotion or even TATS, so that we could offer agents very cheap fares and accommodation, but gave the whole deal to wholesalers and while the general public had good deals, the agents have not been not selling with any confidence, because they have not been able to get across to see that Fiji is safe and the evidence is clear in the failed campaigns.”

“If FVB woudl realise that agents are still critical to the booking process in Australia and New Zealand and get a system in place now to get as many agents across to Fiji to see that it is business as usual, Fiji would see a transformation in business and also that it woudl enable Fiji to better ride bumps in the road such as this one!”

Kevin said that of course, the expulsion of the New Zealand High Commissioner is not going to help tourism to Fiji and hopefully Australia will keep out of it, but in a country like Fiji there is always going to be some political instability, because Fiji is a maturing country and going through change as has been the case for ten years.  

He added, “The facts remain that the everything is calm, it is totally safe, the people are still friendly, the sun is still shining and it is business usual.”

Kevin also said, “This is typical of a period until they get some stability in government, but Fiji is without question a safe destination as we all experienced at BFTE, but what amazes me is the reaction by other countries against Fiji, which is heaps safer than many other places in the world, where people are still travelling and agents are still booking, irrespective of whether the country has a democratically elected government or not – so why pick on Fiji!”

He added, “So my message to FVB is to get together with organisations like TATS and get agents travelling to Fiji to see for themselves that it is totally safe and business as usual and then the bookings will flow.”

He also said, “I attended BFTE to secure partnerships to help do this and we are getting there, with TATS offering agent rates with a number of properties who do not look at the agent rate as income or revenue but as an investment in the future of their business and business from Australia and New Zealand and as part of their marketing mix.”

“I have had an encouraging response from some properties and product but need more, with properties now more amenable to working with TATS, because they know where they get their business from.”  “We are also adding value and packaging, including air, ground transportation, tours and so forth into the packages on offer to agents in Australia.”

“TATS looks forward to working with FVB and the industry in re-establishing tourism into Fiji and significantly improving agent awareness.”  “Going with the wholesalers only once again to attempt to create consumer and traveller confidence in Fiji is a very big mistake – the agents are they key.”

A Report by The Mole.