Japan has surpassed the United States in flight searches for Fiji, according to Tourism Fiji. Additionally, India is emerging as one of the two countries with a rise in flight inquiries. Meanwhile, traditional partners Australia and New Zealand continue to lead the list of nations searching for flights to Fiji.
Brent Hill, the CEO of Tourism Fiji, highlighted that core countries are actively using their website for flight searches, which is encouraging. He noted, “It’s also good to see a country like Japan, where we are putting in significant effort to promote tourism, climbing in the search rankings. This suggests there is growing interest among Japanese tourists in Fiji, which is a positive sign.”
Hill added that occupancy rates remain strong, predicting July to be another solid month, and indicated that forward bookings are promising. “We are always striving to ensure that as many visitors as possible travel to Fiji, and the forward booking data reflects solid numbers,” he stated. He also confirmed that Australia, New Zealand, and the US remain the top three markets for tourism.
Despite anticipating a decline from New Zealand due to understood economic factors such as inflation and high interest rates, Hill mentioned that the overall figures from New Zealand are holding steady. Recent data indicates a slight increase in flight searches from Australia (+1.9%) and India (+0.6%), while searches from New Zealand (-1.2%) and Japan (-0.4%) have seen a decline.
In terms of accommodation, Fiji recorded an average occupancy rate of 86% in July, with forward bookings suggesting an average occupancy of 79% for August and 66% for October. The leading countries searching for accommodation include Australia (35%), New Zealand (31%), and the United States (9.6%). In accommodation inquiries, there was a decline in searches from Canada (-1.0%) and New Zealand (-0.9%).