Despite subdued growth in Fiji’s two largest tourism source markets, Australia and New Zealand, visitor arrivals have performed exceptionally well during the first half of 2024.
Senior Westpac Banking Corporation Economist, Shamal Chand, in his latest report, indicates that based on the current trend, Fiji’s tourism sector is expected to register another year of record arrivals.
He noted that year-to-date, Fiji received 354,584 visitors, 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,” he stated.
“Fiji welcomed 38,944 Australian visitors in May, a 12.2 percent year-on-year increase. This number was likely boosted by the visit of two Australian Super Rugby Pacific teams’ supporters during the month, as historically May sees a slight dip in arrivals. This suggests that 2024 is experiencing sports-led tourism growth.”
Year-to-date, visitor arrivals from Australia are up by 2.3 percent, New Zealand is up by 11.3 percent, and the United States is up by 13.3 percent.
Chand also mentioned a noticeable increase in the number of rooms sold and the occupancy rate during the first quarter of 2024, driven particularly by 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,” he said.
“The tourism sector is also set to benefit significantly over the next 10 years from the planned upgrade to Nadi International Airport, which will see the international passenger capacity increase to 5 million from the current 2.1 million, while domestic passenger capacity will increase to 0.5 million from the current 0.3 million.”
“Nadi International Airport is operating at full capacity as Fiji expects to receive 1 million visitors this year, and the planned upgrade over the next decade will provide much needed relief to the current supply side constraints with a number of infrastructure development plans in place,” Chand added.