The Key to Recovery for Fiji’s Tourism – Perception or Reality – a view by David Beirman

Last night I attended an end of year function given by a leading Sydney travel agent and amidst the bonhomie of the festive evening Fiji was high on the list of topics discussed. 

Virtually all those who were there were travel industry professionals and there were, as you would expect, many opinions about Fiji.

The good news is that most of the people I spoke to felt that Fiji was a safe destination to travel to for themselves but the less good news was that many were reticent about communicating their own quiet confidence to their clients.

This is not unusual because for 12 years I encountered the same sort of attitudes with regards to Israel during the time I ran the Israel Tourism Office and in so many ways what is sad about all this is that we in the industry allow ourselves to become victims not only of our own perceptions of a destination but our perceptions of our clients’s perception.

What governs those perceptions ? Well, I believe that when it comes to foreign destinations the mass media to a large extent becomes a governor of perception and in more recent years government travel advisories.

When most of us think about Fiji over the past few weeks our dominant perceptions and those of our clients are something like the ones we saw in the media, with a great deal of media hype at the time, but they are not reality now.

This raises a key question in what relationship, if anything are those images to the truth of Fiji as a tourism destination and the answer is that the reality, truth and perception have practically nothing in common.

The reality is that Fiji’s tourism infrastructure has been unaffected by political events in the same way as the situation in Thailand was a few weeks ago. 

The resorts, hotels tours, cruises and other toruism operations are all running as they have for years.

But how do we get to the facts?

This publication, TravelMole, known for reporting the facts as they are, has been giving first hand reports of the situation in Fiji for the past few days and that helps you in the industry provide informed factual decisions to your clients. 

Another reality is that political activisim which has been the basis of the coup and media reports of the “Fiji Crisis”, is happening in Suva, a three hour drive from most of the Coral Coast, Nadi and Western Viti Levu where most tourists tend to be based.

As I wrote a few days ago, you need to use multiple sources to assemble your facts about Fiji and if you really do feel confident about travelling there yourself, then you need to communicate that confidence to your clients.

When it comes to travel, travel agents are an integral governor of perception and you can utilise that power for good and if you feel confident about your own safety in Fiji, you have to communicate that confidence to your clients.

Not only does that help Fiji’s tourism industry but it also helps you and your agency in providing reality based credible and accurate information, not just going with the flow of poorly perceived views and information in an uninfomred manner and of course there are also some great deals going for Fiji and good bookings to be made.

Report and Opinion by David Beirman – TravelMole’s Crisis and Tourism Recovery Specialist and Correspondent.