April 4, 2005
By Michael Field
   Political uncertainty, tougher drinking laws and a new tax are hitting Fiji tourism hard, Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association president Dixon Seeto says.
   He said hotel bookings in the first quarter of the year had been down 20 percent, with the biggest drop offs coming from Australia and New Zealand.
   “Looking ahead and the figures for the future don’t look too healthy either.”
   A general election will next month be held in Fiji amidst manoeuvring by the country’s military forces which has seen its chief, Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, at times threaten to overthrow the government. Last month he pointedly marched armed troops into the capital Suva .
   Mr Seeto said the elections themselves were orderly and were not turning off tourists.
   “I think that some of the people in the position of power need to realise that when they make statements they need to take into account the repercussions of them,” he said.
   “Tourism is a very fragile industry and the most important part of it is that tourism is about a dream, a perception … and we want to keep that perception as intact as we can and any wrong statements will destroy that perception, of Fiji being an idyllic place to have a holiday.”

     Fiji tourism focussed on families and they were “very sensitive to any hint or information that would disturb the perception.”
   Fiji recently changed its liquor laws, lifting the age from 18 to 21 for the purchase of alcohol. Airline sources have suggested this was impacting on a cheap party travellers from New Zealand and Australia .
   Mr Seeto said Fiji had now found itself out of synch with its neighbours and while people were not going to Fiji to drink excessively, the industry did attract many 19 and 20 years olds who could not now buy alcohol.
   The Fiji Government recently imposed a three percent turnover tax on the hotel industry which was also pushing up costs.
   He noted that rival South Pacific destinations were “doing very well….
   “Its off-season and they are getting the benefit of the concerns people have in Fiji .”
   Part time workers in the hotel and resort industry were being cut back and unions were talking to unions about “corrective action” to reduce costs.

Copyright: Michael Field