Tourism Fiji accuses travel writers of hypocrisy

SYDNEY – Tourism Fiji has responded to the Australian Society of Travel Writers following the society’s move to reverse a proposal to hold its 2010 annual meeting in Fiji.

In a letter to ASTW president Kris Madden, Tourism Fiji regional director Paresh Pant said the NTO was “bewildered” by the decision and accused the travel writers of “hypocrisy”.

This is the full text of the letter sent by Tourism Fiji to the ASTW:

“Thank you very much for your letter received 23 November 2009 advising of the ASTW committee’s decision not to accept Tourism Fiji’s proposal to host the 2010 Australian Society of Travel Writers annual meeting in Fiji.

To be frank while we of course fully understand that the hosting of the ASTW annual meeting in Fiji was never a foregone conclusion at any stage, and we readily accept the committee’s decision, we must confess to being somewhat bewildered at the recent turn of events and actions taken by several of the organisation’s members.

Having been approached and specifically invited to submit a formal proposal by the previous ASTW President, Vincent Ross, in time for the ASTW annual meeting in Bangkok, Tourism Fiji readily complied with this request.

This having been achieved we were somewhat surprised, but again very happy to comply, with the submission of a second formal proposal following the ASTW annual meeting in Bangkok.

Further more, a third document was specifically requested by the ASTW committee from Fiji’s Minister for Tourism, Mr Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.

The main thrust of this third document required the Minister to formally dispel any misconceptions or concerns the ASTW committee and any members of the organisation might have had regarding their safety or well being when visiting Fiji.

To the best of our knowledge, other than a request for assistance with visas for ASTW delegates attending the event in China, this was a first for the ASTW and begs the question – was this also a requirement when the ASTW decided to stage its annual meetings in China, a country criticised heavily around the world for its human rights records, or communist-ruled, non-democratic Vietnam.

The same applies to Thailand, the venue for the 2009 ASTW annual meeting where as recently as April of this year, political unrest seizing the Thai capital claimed fatalities when government troops opened fire on civilians protesting the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

This did not seem to deter the 144 delegates attending the 2009 event which leads us to ask the question.

Why should Fiji, where both its citizens and hundreds of thousands of international visitors enjoy a very safe and peaceful environment, attract so much resentment from elements of the membership of an organisation which clearly states and prides itself in its position as an ‘apolitical’ organisation.

To say this smacks of hypocrisy would be an understatement.

Add to this an advice given to our PR consultant Mike Parker- Brown by a very prominent and current member of the ASTW committee at the ASTW luncheon in Sydney in September.

Mike was very clearly advised that if Tourism Fiji was to be successful in its bid to stage the ASTW annual meeting, a further requirement would be to facilitate an opportunity for ASTW members attending the event to be given an exclusive address by Fiji’s Prime Minister, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama.

We would be curious to know if the same requirement was also applied to the ASTW’s Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai hosts and complied with before a decision was made to stage the annual meeting in those three countries.

Furthermore we also feel it necessary to pass comment on the online voting system set in place to assess whether or not ASTW members were in favour of the annual meeting being held in Fiji in 2010.

While very much in favour of a decision being put to a fair and even vote, we very quickly realised that the system was flawed allowing anyone to vote as many times as they liked simply by logging into the website from different locales.

This discrepancy was very quickly pointed this out to the ASTW however, despite our objections to what can only be perceived as a very unfair system, the system remained in place until the end of November.

Again, having pointed out the discrepancy, we find it extraordinary and in complete opposition of the very high standards the ASTW sets itself as a truly democratic and ‘apolitical’ organisation that this flawed system remained in place until late November.

Lastly with reference to the International Federation of Journalists call for the ASTW not to select Fiji as the venue for its 2010 annual meeting.

We are now aware having read your advice to members in your most recent newsletter that several ASTW members went as far as to anonymously contact the IFJ in order to request that the IFJ lobby the ASTW committee not to hold the annual meeting in Fiji.

We fully agree with your comments on this matter.

We also concur with your comments that this issue in its entirety has caused many people and both of our organisations a great deal of embarrassment aside from costing a good number of people a great deal of wasted time.

Finally we note your comment that should circumstances in Fiji change in future, Tourism Fiji will once again consider welcoming the ASTW and its members to our country.

Thank you for that. We can assure you Fiji will always be more than happy to invite and host all travel writers to our islands in the true context of the ‘Bula’ spirit – irrespective of whether or not they are members of the ASTW.

We will perhaps be somewhat cautious as and when and if we are again approached by the ASTW with a view to staging the organisation’s annual meeting in Fiji.”

Vinaka vakalevu.

Yours sincerely,

Paresh Pant
Regional Director Australia
Tourism Fiji