Category: News

FHTA, 4 March 2021 – A recent local article repeated a statement that around 2000 tourism workers, who have been on leave without pay due to the economic downturn in 2020, were expected to be made redundant soon.

While this was always been a strong possibility due to the safety measures Fiji put in place by shutting borders against the pandemic early last year, the consequent drying up of international visitors resulted in no work being able to be provided by many business operators.

Putting the overall challenges into perspective, the IMF Departmental Paper “Tourism in the Post-Pandemic World Economic -Challenges and Opportunities for Asia-Pacific and the Western Hemisphere” notes that the COVID-19 pandemic, is a global crisis like no other in modern history, that has led to a sudden stop in travel and a collapse in economic activity worldwide.

It further says, “As a major economic driver, tourism accounts for more than 10 percent of the global economy and in many countries a large share of exports and foreign exchange earnings. The industry is also highly interconnected; multiple sectors are dependent on its performance. The pandemic has had severe repercussions on the complex global tourism supply chain, putting millions of tourism jobs at risk. Informal and migrant workers, particularly women and youth, have suffered disproportionately from diminished employment opportunities and lack of access to social safety nets, leading to increased poverty and slowing progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals”.

The impact on tourism businesses and Fiji’s economy has meant that the more than $2b revenue-earning and tax income generation capacity has been severely curtailed. This has taken a huge financial toll on the tourism industry, and Fiji, as it has on every other country and economy with a heavy reliance on this industry.

Since April 2020, all operational requirements have had to be reviewed to ensure businesses could survive the drawn-out impact of the COVID-19 induced crisis for which no-one around the world could predict (and to a certain extent, still cannot) correctly predict its eventual end.

Like any crisis, every business has had to re-evaluate strategies, change direction, review costs and consider how it must survive the crisis to enable it to reemerge eventually in a relatively strong position to continue to operate when and if circumstances allowed it to operate again.

Where work could not be provided because a business was forced to close, employees had to be let go. Where work was able to be provided intermittently, work hours for employees had to be redistributed. Whether businesses were hovering between closure and specifically timed openings, deciding to focus on scheduled refurbishing or extensions or changing their usual operational focus; all have had to drastically reduce workforce numbers.

The Fiji Hotel & Tourism Association members have been provided guidance and advice to ensure correctly complied with the Employment Relations Act (ERA) regulations. The Association has worked diligently with its members and the Ministry of Employment to apply as far as possible, that fair and transparent options were offered to employees as part of the critically required business restructuring environment that the industry was forced to implement.

Of the approximately 110,000 employees we believe were affected, at least 40% of the total number were provided with reduced hours or rotational shift options based on drastically slashed room inventory being made available, intermittent transport services and other activities that had to be reduced by up to 80% initially.

Employee support from tourism operators has been provided without publicity for the most part throughout the country and initially commenced with care packages at the beginning of the crisis. Other support that included soft loans, accommodation until ferry services restarted, cash and food assistance during the many cyclones experienced and going out of their way to contact staff who had been let go earlier so they could access the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF) assistance, reflect the deep roots the industry has with the communities it operates from within.

With the eventual marketing of domestic tourism offering reduced rates to encourage local travel, the industry reached out, often with great difficulty, to reemploy a further 10% of employees for the weekends and holidays that are preferred.

By late 2020, the bulk of tourism employees had returned to their original homes. Many returned to farming available land, fishing or taking up home-based micro-businesses to support their families where alternative employment opportunities could not be found.

With a fortnightly FNPF payment to rely on and perhaps the support of new business ventures or family support, many tourism employees chose not to return to work for weekend-only work and reduced hours based on the currently limited demand. And continue to do so.

There are therefore fewer options available for an employer who has released his staff he currently does not need because he has insufficient or no work for them. What options are available if they have agreed to be on Leave Without Pay and choose not to return to work for the few hours a day they may be needed, and they represent a skill still required? Do you hire someone else to fix the plumbing, maintain the generator or keep the boat engine in working order?

Many tourism employers are scratching their heads considering it might have been a simpler option to have made all their staff redundant earlier, but they may have chosen not to do so initially due to staff loyalty, deep connections with the communities nearby from where their staff generally come from or simply because they know with certainty that they will need those same staff back again.

After all, he has provided the historical training, they understand the business operations and he cannot afford to start from scratch when the borders reopen as they inevitably will.

Yet businesses that took the bold and often painful option of mass redundancies earlier were heavily criticized with very little understanding of the background or reasoning behind this.

It is a vexing situation that no employment legislation or human resource expert could have foreseen or had simple answers for even 12 months into the crisis. Certainly, there are no precedents to fall back on. Each situation requires its own analysis that takes into consideration every aspect of the business needs, its location and organizational structure.

There are so many varying scenarios that MBA students would have hundreds of examples for which to apply their analytical problem-solving skills and still not come up with a generic solution that would be deemed acceptable to all concerned.
There are just as many stories of positivity and goodwill. As there are of the consequence of released tourism employees into other sectors. Chefs from hotels and resorts are making a remarkable difference around Fiji in the restaurants they have joined or personally opened.
Customer service, marketing and event management skills are being improved in many businesses. So, if you have been surprised lately with the friendly face or voice, the tastier food or food options, you might be experiencing the services of an ex-tourism worker who is grateful to have employment.

Human resourcing issues aside, the industry continues to dig deep to not just be able to remain in business but to ensure it can also stay compliant, safe and emerge still as strong and vibrant an industry as it was when it was forced into hibernation.
Fiji has a small population and despite its 300 plus islands, is a small country in comparison to its larger neighbours navigating the vaccination rollout. We, therefore, believe that the right vaccination strategy once implemented and successful, could be the impetus of a faster process to get back on our feet.

Herd immunity will be able to be achieved earlier than, for example, our tourism competitors in South East Asia who have more populous tourism-dependent economies.

This vision is feasible because our key tourism markets of Australia and New Zealand have begun their vaccination programmes and that bodes well for our tourism sector’s successful Blue Lanes and VIP lanes initiative.

As we make our way to maximizing vaccination across our population, we are also aware that several Pacific island states have not had any community transmissions of the virus, with many others having gone several hundred days without a local case.

So, the concept of a travel bubble with some regional neighbours, where quarantine-free travel between those with low or no incidence of COVID-19, could be closer to implementation as well.

For now, we continue to plan, adjust, look for amicable solutions with our mainly furloughed workforce and amend strategies so that when the opportunity arises, we are ready for whatever scenario we are faced with.

We know staying safe first is a priority and planning for our next steps comes a close second.

By: Fantasha Lockington – CEO, FHTA (Published in the Fiji Times on 4 March 2021)

FHTA, 26 February 2021 – “How many human beings have to die before some people understand the gravity of the situation?” The plea from British author Wayne Gerard Trotman is succinct but weighty.

That age-old belief that things will worsen before they improve rings true too as in a December 2020 briefing by the World Health Organization, that the ‘destiny’ of COVID-19 is for it to become endemic, rather than to disappear as many are hoping.
Simply put, that means that COVID becomes a part of our lives that will have to be adapted to a level that will be eventually considered ‘normal’.

Think back to post 9/11 airport protocols that when first imposed we vehemently opposed and criticised. Believe it or not, that was twenty (20) years ago and we have been observing travel protocols at airports and in aircraft and airlines that relate to the safety requirements that were put into place as a result. These are now considered normal.

So as Fiji endeavours to maintain its ‘COVID-contained’ status amid a sprinkling of confirmed cases at border quarantine facilities, we need to adopt the mindset that the changes that will have to be imposed for future travel as well as into our daily lives will be changing to protect our lives, our livelihoods and consequently our economy.

The United States reported this week that their total COVID-19 deaths have surpassed 500,000 and that is out of their confirmed cases of 27 million. That death toll figure is a sombre one especially for a small island nation like Fiji where that would translate to about 56% of our population.

WHO’s tally of the global death toll is at 2,462,911 out of a total of 111,102,016 confirmed cases. So, if one thing is certain in these most uncertain of times, it is that the virus is slowly but assuredly making its slow trek around the globe. Hitting some countries twice and even three times in devastating and waves that bring entire cities to a complete halt.

With COVID-19 recognised as a new coronavirus, there has not been sufficiently solid research or enough experience with its infection rates until now.

Around mid-2020, whilst the world was in the throes of the pandemic, Fiji was struggling with an outbreak of dengue and leptospirosis. At that time, we only recorded one COVID-related fatality, but there were four from dengue and 10 from leptospirosis.

So, while we are well aware of the issues that the world is currently facing, sometimes it is the lesser-known issues that relate the most to us in Fiji as a developing island economy.

We have done well to remain COVID contained, but the impacts of COVID on our economy has now been well-documented.
It is therefore heartening to see and often be part of support being offered for a range of people and businesses from all walks of life.

Initially support poured in that targeted tourism workers who had lost their jobs. Donors, development agencies, NGO’s and multinational organisations have looked for practical ways to provide guidance, funding, training and support to both industry-affected businesses and their employees.

Many initiatives have provided direct support as well as facilitating partnerships that create opportunities that benefit individual, groups and communities. These provide access to training, upskilling, direct financial assistance or financial literacy programs.

Connecting small businesses owners to tools, support networks and mentors is helping provide survival options. Thousands of unemployed Fijians are being assisted to look for alternative revenue channels, understand basic business principles in their new ventures or learn new skills.

People who were employed in the creative arts that relied on tourism are tapping into technical advice provided by a recent partnership of ILO and Market Development Facility (MDF) that provided support for Business Development Services.

It is not generally appreciated that dancers, entertainers including meke groups, singers, craftspeople like carvers, weavers and jewellery makers, children’s nannies and activities or fitness staff rely on tourism for employment but can get left out of formal Government support because they are part of the informal sector.

Several initiatives are now available in Fiji which supports sustainable economic development by targeting the unemployed sectors (both formal and informal), women’s groups, communities, SME’s, entrepreneurs and even first-time farmers.

Whatever we were doing before COVID hit, must be reevaluated to first survive the crisis – because we do not know how long it will last, and then tweaked first to determine whether that product or service is needed now for the market that has changed as a result of the crisis, and then reviewed again for the post-COVID timeframe when that market may again shift and change as a result of borders reopening eventually.

This is a key basic message that is being discussed and delivered during these support programs and training sessions.
Change is hard but survival is key for anyone considering being around in business for the years ahead that are expected to be extremely positive, especially for travel in the post COVID world.

So, while we remain protected with our borders still closed and the worst of the virus still far away, we know the floodgates could open once travel resumes. We are working hard behind the scenes to provide guidance, communication avenues and support where needed, and with the relevant agencies to survive the crisis and stay safe.

The Economist Intelligence Unit recently predicted that most low-income countries would not ‘have wide access to a vaccine before 2022–23”. While that paints a grim picture for small island nations’ immunization efforts, Fiji and her Pacific Island neighbours appear to have had better luck in accessing at least the first shipments of vaccines being made available through friendly larger neighbours and better networks.

Ben Franklin said “When you’ve finished changing, you’re finished” and he wasn’t even an entrepreneur or businessman.
Fijian tourism is evolving into its next stage, involuntarily as it has been from COVID. Fiji as a young country is also evolving, forced as well by the dynamics of COVID.

How we embrace the changes will determine our eventual success.

By: Fantasha Lockington – CEO, FHTA (Published in the Fiji Times on 26 February 2021)

FHTA, 18 February 2021 – Preparing to restart business at some stage this year from the imposed hibernation of the past year will be a challenge for many in tourism industries around the world.

In Fiji, this planning might not have started quite so urgently, but there is still much to do to ensure businesses survive for the next few months to thrive in what is expected to be high demand for international travel when borders eventually do open up,
As the nation gears up to this eventual opening of borders that many are hopeful will be later in the year, our tourism family continues to estimate the continued closure timeframes against their dwindling cash flows.

Some resorts have been able to open for a variety of reasons and under various conditions. These include providing quarantine facilities for Government for use by residents and permit holders returning on repatriation flights for 14 days each.

They also include offering residents the opportunity to experience a taste of our famous Fijian hospitality in beautiful surroundings at a fraction of the usual rates. Others are offering boutique holiday experiences to small groups of international visitors using the Vacation in Paradise (VIP) Lanes or Blue Lane corridors which require that 14 days be part of the journey that makes up their isolated quarantine confinement period.

The success of these available options has been defined by the adoption and adherence of the new COVID safe protocols and collaborating closely with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Tourism to coordinate arrivals, transfers and monitoring of testing requirements.

Confirmed COVID positive cases have generally been border quarantine cases, meaning they have arrived into the country and whilst in quarantine have been confirmed as positive through the required testing processes, so would have contracted the virus whilst overseas or on their way home.

There has been very little media coverage in Fiji and even around the world on the condition of people with COVID once confirmed as positive, what contributed to patients’ eventual recovery and how families have dealt with this.
Information is sparse at best and often speculative or through highly questionable social media sources.

While the devastation it caused to families and communities in Italy where extended families with inter-generational family structures are similar to Fiji, and initially in the US provided glimpses into how terrifying the virus could make life for entire countries, Fiji’s relative isolation has cushioned our understanding to a “not likely to happen to us” type scenario.

Perhaps that is why we are so complacent with learning to live with the expected new hygiene requirements and why many are often shocked to hear that we must learn to live with this virus despite the planned vaccination program rollouts here and world-wide.

Far more effective public awareness campaigns must be carried out to make keeping Fiji safe everyone’s business and not just be about hand-washing and coughing into elbows.

Many of us do not know what to expect if someone we lived with contracted the virus and have no understanding of how dangerous it could be if several family members got infected as a result.

In businesses and across entire industries, many have returned to pre-COVID conditions with handwashing not so strictly observed (the water is there but there is no soap in the dispenser), sanitiser gels have disappeared off counters and social distancing has become too hard to do.

Additionally, the initial registration of people entering buildings and getting their temperatures taken has started to disappear with only hotels, Nadi Airport and Fiji Airways demanding proof of the downloaded Care Fiji App to assist with contact tracing efforts.

In tourism businesses, however, these are practised diligently, reminded, trained and monitored. Face masks are expected to be worn and full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is donned in quarantine hotels, airport areas, transport and laundry handling facilities.

Passenger boats, transfer vehicles, airport architecture, aircraft interiors and hotel rooms and surroundings are being cleaned with specific virus-neutralizing cleaning equipment and disinfectants.

Will this be replicated across retail shops, restaurants, public transport, banks and other offices around Fiji? It must if these same businesses expect international visitors to use their services or expect local tourism workers who will come into contact with the visitors to use their services.

The extra precautions mean additional costs but are necessary so must be borne to maintain the practice until advised otherwise.

Fiji’s image is being meticulously rebuilt to add another layer of safety, security and preparedness for when borders reopen.
Destination Fiji continues to put in the hard work to ensure that Fiji remains an attractive destination that is planning its eventual safe reopening.

Marketing Fiji and competing with the rest of the world has never been simple, but marketing in the post COVID world has taken this to new complicated heights.

We must remain a vibrant, exciting holiday destination that can still appeal to our core markets and quintessential family segments while staying abreast of new trends and changing travel habits.

Adapting to understand and deliver conservational sustainability options, adventure and experiential travel while ensuring we can still deliver the expectations of younger travellers who will demand seamless connectivity, must now be integrated with
stronger messages of safety and security from an invisible virus that has the potential to kill thousands. It is a huge task for Tourism Fiji.

There is still much to do in terms of preparedness which is why a whole lot of consultation and discussion has been taking place between tourism stakeholders, Government bodies and agencies, non-government organisations and training institutions.

Safety first as always, with all the connotations of safety our new post COVID world demands before we are ready to meet and greet a whole new, changed world of travellers.

Helping one another achieve a higher level of safety and preparation should be everyone’s business. The tourism industry is collaborating closely with relevant Ministries to offer support in the logistics for the vaccine roll out if required.

Moving over 800,000 people around Fiji requires organisation, project and event management skills, access to transportation and communication services. We just happen to have that exact experience and those very skills in our toolkit.

And we know how to do this safely too.

By: Fantasha Lockington – CEO, FHTA (Published in the Fiji Times on 18 February 2021)