Disha Shah Ghosh - Mumbai After two long years of halt in tourism and having reopened its borders recently, Fiji Tourism is hoping for a smooth uptick in travel from India, and strategically reaching pre-pandemic (2019) levels of tourist traffic by 2024. In 2019, Fiji welcomed 6,000-7,000 tourists from India.
Sharing views with TravelBiz Monitor during her recent visit to Mumbai, Kathy Koyamaibole, Regional Director Asia & Pacific, Tourism Fiji, said, “Since borders have opened up, we are seeing a relief from travellers wanting to explore new destinations. While it is too soon to forecast the travel demand, we are hoping to reach pre-pandemic numbers from India in 2024. Fiji offers visa-free entry to Indian passport holders, and this will aid travel from India.” Currently, Fiji requires Indian tourists to be completely vaccinated, and undertake an RAT test within 72 hours upon arrival in the country.
Till now, Fiji has largely welcomed honeymooners and couples from India, and slowly the destination is keen to tap weddings and MICE groups, especially corporate incentives. “We have a large Indian diaspora in Fiji, and therefore we can meet the dietary requirements of Indian travellers very easily. We are talking to tour operators in India for incentive group movement, alongside offering Fiji as an add-on during their visit to Australia and New Zealand.”
Tourism Fiji has recently re-launched its Matai 2.0 specialist programme, and is looking at encouraging the travel trade in India to undertake the online training. “We are reaching out to the agents in metros and Tier-II cities to complete their training,” she said.
