Despite minimal growth in Fiji’s two largest tourism source markets, Australia and New Zealand, visitor arrivals in Fiji have excelled in the first half of 2024.
Senior Westpac Banking Corporation Economist, Shamal Chand, in his latest report, indicates that based on current trends, Fiji’s tourism sector is poised to hit another year of record arrivals.
He noted that up to this year, Fiji received 354,584 visitors, marking an 8.3 percent increase compared to 327,392 arrivals last year.
“In May 2024, visitor arrivals rose 10.3 percent year-on-year and 7.3 percent month-on-month to 82,901, setting a record high for this month.”
“Fiji welcomed 38,944 Australian visitors in May, a 12.2 percent year-on-year increase. This surge was likely influenced by the visit of two Australian Super Rugby Pacific teams’ supporters during the month. Historically, May sees a slight dip in arrivals, suggesting that 2024 is experiencing growth driven by sports tourism.”
Year-to-date, visitor arrivals from Australia are up by 2.3 percent, New Zealand by 11.3 percent, and the United States by 13.3 percent.
Chand also mentioned a noticeable increase in the number of rooms sold and the occupancy rate in the first quarter of 2024, largely driven by the record year-to-date arrivals.
“In the March quarter of 2024, the room occupancy rate was 49.1 percent, up from 48.2 percent in March 2023, with an additional 75,600 rooms available during the quarter.”
“The tourism sector is expected to benefit significantly in the next 10 years from planned upgrades to the Nadi International Airport. These upgrades will increase the international passenger capacity to 5 million from the current 2.1 million, while domestic passenger capacity will rise to 0.5 million from the current 0.3 million.”
“The Nadi International Airport is currently operating at full capacity, as Fiji anticipates 1 million visitors this year. The planned upgrades over the next decade will provide much-needed relief to the current supply constraints, with several infrastructure development plans in the pipeline.”