FHTA 8 Jan 2022 – Five weeks after Fiji reopened its borders to international visitors, we have welcomed around 30,000 visitors that have included Fijians returning home for the holidays to visit friends and family.
We are thrilled to be able to have more of our tourism staff back at work after 20 months of uncertainty and they are just as happy to be back at work welcoming our visitors back and ensuring our visitors have a safe, memorable holiday.
Barring some incidents where some visitors have been unhappy with the required COVID-safe protocols that demand their post-arrival positive confirmation of infection means they go into 10-day isolation in their hotel; international travellers and returning residents understand that Fijian health authority protocols that align with international Governments are followed strictly.
In our post-COVID travel world; testing, isolation, proof of vaccination and testing results are all part of the security systems that countries have put into place to keep visitors, tourism staff and local communities safe.
Fiji is no different, and like our travel partner countries that have allowed their citizens to travel to Fiji; airlines, travel agents, hotels and tourism authorities have provided ample warnings, reminders on the need for adequate travel insurance and the risks of testing positive during holidays.
While the current positivity rate for visitors is around 1%, we are pleased to note that there have been no reports of anyone becoming severely ill or hospitalised, with more people being asymptomatic or with mild symptoms that only last a few days.
The Fiji Hotel & Tourism Association (FHTA) continues to work closely alongside other stakeholders like Tourism Fiji, the Border Health Protection Unit (BHPU) and the Ministry of Health, as well as the Ministry of Commerce, Trade, Tourism & Transport (MCTTT) and Fiji Airways, to continue to ensure compliance al round.
Tourism operators are doing their best with the complicated and constantly changing protocols to manage visitor testing, result turnarounds and isolation requirements for our staff and visitors alike, in the interests of their safety.
Our collective responsibility is to ensure their holidays are as safe as possible and that they can return to their countries having also complied with strict Australian and US travel requirements.
This responsibility continues even while we prepare to manage the new challenges of an approaching tropical depression that has intensified into a cyclone.
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
The Voice of the Industry
