Fijian Tourism Expo 2023

May 12, 2023

Fijian Tourism Expo was held on the 6-8 MAY 2023 at the Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort. This expo brought together international trade, media, and local tourism suppliers in one location to showcase the variety of Fiji’s tourism products, create business opportunities and meet old friends (or make new ones). This year the expo brought over 100 buyers, 84 sellers and 10 international media from 14 countries.

At the opening of the 2023 Fijian Tourism Expo the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Hon. Viliame Gavoka shared that the country has been able to recover 71 percent of 2019 visitor numbers. The first quarter of 2023 (Jan-March) recorded 175,284, a recovery of 102 percent compared to same quarter pre-pandemic.

Some of the Key tourism investments taking shape in Fiji:

• Seventh Heaven’s new luxury overnight stay – Mamanucas
• $47 million new Wananavu Beach Resort development underway – Rakiraki
• $10 million villa addition to Vacala Bay Resort – Taveuni
• Crowne Plaza to open in Wailoaloa (former Pullman)
• Hilton Garden Inn, Suva
• Wyndham is also adding 90 rooms in Wailoaloa and 40 rooms in the Coral Coast
• Captain Cook Cruises arrival of luxury expedition cruising of 114 passenger MS Caledonian Sky with further development of its remote itineraries and taking to the most beautiful parts of Fiji including North, Lau Islands, Tonga, and Samoa.

Avis Fiji was part of the Expo and was able to meet over 30 buyers to update about the business, discuss partnership and opportunities and hear from the buyers on the interest from the travelers. We were also able to sell the Pacific (Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands) as the borders had opened and travelers expressed interest in these Islands as well.

It had been a fruitful 2 days of meeting buyers and seeing the demand of self-driving and which stood out was that China, India, Germany, and the Europe Market are also now interested in adventure and prefer to self-drive compared to pre-covid where travelers opted for shuttle services as such dynamics and demand from the travelers are now changing.

The Expo concluded with an evening cocktail and announcement of 2024 Expo to be held on 6^th to 8^th of May.