Fiji’s individual and collective industry strategies should continue to be informed by the monitoring of data trends and insights to ensure the sustainability of the tourism sector.
These were the sentiments shared by Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association Chief Executive Officer, Fantasha Lockington, during the recent tourism industry trends and insights sessions conducted by Twenty31 tourism consultant, Oliver Martin, at the Fijian Tourism Expo in Nadi.
“Throughout the early stages of reopening, we kept an eye on the live dashboard data that Twenty 31 set up to support the work of the National Tourism Statistics Taskforce. The data was continuously evolving and validating and informing the strategies that the task force members were working towards leading up to reopening of our borders,” said Mrs Lockington.
“Now six months into the reopening, it is our hope that we maintain this focus as an industry to not only ensure that we maintain our current levels of popularity, but also to help ensure that we are continually prepared. The valuable data insights help us to do that,” Ms. Lockington added.
Twenty31, an international consulting firm based in Canada, is providing technical assistance to Fiji’s Tourism Statistics Taskforce (TST) through the provision of the latest tourism data trends and analytics for Fiji’s key tourism source markets, with support from the Australian Government’s Market Development Facility.
The TST is made up of representatives from the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, Tourism & Transport, Tourism Fiji, and the Fiji Hotel & Tourism Association.
To support this ongoing work, Twenty31 also held two industry-wide sessions and smaller working group sessions for tourism stakeholders at the Fiji Tourism Expo.
“It’s always important to keep our fingers on the pulse, and it’s quite interesting to see that overall, we know that there’s great optimism out there for travel and also a big topic around sustainable recovery and ensuring we sustain that demand for the future as well,” said Marriot International’s Cluster Director of Marketing for Fiji, Sera Cawanibuka-Seruvatu following a session on the top trends that would impact travel to Fiji.
“The sessions were really, insightful. There’s a lot you can take away and put together in terms of crafting your plans for the rest of the year,” she added.
The TST is making available the live dashboard data and monthly reports to the tourism stakeholders to inform their business strategies.
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
The Voice of the Industry
