Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, 09 April 2026 – The rain came first, as it always does, interspersed with gusts of warm winds.
Sheets of it, relentless and familiar, driven across Viti Levu as Severe Tropical Cyclone Vaianu tracked past us this week. Category 3, but at a distance.
Close enough to remind us who is in charge, far enough to spare us the worst of it.
Instead, we prepared for and dealt with what we know best in Fiji—flooded crossings, waterlogged roads, and the quiet, methodical work of securing properties, vessels, moving guests, checking on staff, and waiting it out.
There is a rhythm to it now. We do not panic. We prepare. We respond. We check on each other, and we recover together. And then we carry on.
That same rhythm, in many ways, defines how we approach the national budget.
Each year, as the Government prepares to announce its fiscal direction—this year expected towards the end of June—we submit, again, what we believe the tourism industry needs. Not what is convenient. Not what is easy to implement. But what is necessary to address the deeper challenges, the apathy in many areas and the inefficiencies and non-productivity that depletes private sector efforts to do better, work harder and achieve more.
And each year, we know exactly how it tends to go.
A portion—perhaps 20 percent—finds its way into policy or implementation. Another 30 percent is acknowledged, noted, or referenced in principle. The rest, if we are being honest, disappears without a trace. No mention. No engagement. No explanation.
On paper, that might look like a poor return.
In reality, it is simply the nature of the process.
Tourism operators across Fiji understand this better than most. We operate in an environment where uncertainty is constant – weather systems, global demand, fuel prices, staffing pressures, and shifting regulatory frameworks. We do not wait for perfect conditions. We work with what we have, and we keep moving and this is the same for any business in the private sector.
Budget submissions are no different.
We do not submit proposals with the expectation of full alignment. We submit because it is our duty to articulate what is essential to keep Fiji’s tourism industry competitive, sustainable, and resilient. Our recommendations are not abstract—they are grounded in the lived realities of doing business in Fiji, reflecting the daily challenges faced by operators, staff, and communities. Even when only a fraction is adopted, that fraction matters. It shapes operating conditions, guides investment decisions, and signals the Government’s priorities. Each submission builds a record, ensuring that the needs of the industry remain visible, credible, and ready to be acted upon when the timing is right.
And just as importantly, it builds a record.
Because what is not accepted this year does not disappear. It carries forward, often gaining negative momentum. It returns in the next submission, refined, strengthened, and supported by another year of operational reality. Over time, the ideas that persist are often the ones that eventually gain traction—not because they suddenly become relevant, but because their relevance becomes impossible to ignore.
There is a misconception that repeated submissions reflect stubbornness. In reality, they demonstrate consistency, persistence, and a clear commitment to the industry’s priorities. Each reiteration reinforces the urgency of the issues raised, builds credibility, and ensures that vital concerns remain visible until they can no longer be ignored. And ultimately, when the industry succeeds, the country succeeds—because tourism’s growth and resilience ripple outward into jobs, communities, and the wider economy.
At the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, we are not in the business of making noise for its own sake. Every submission we put forward is anchored in the real-world experiences of our members—rising cost pressures, mounting compliance demands, infrastructure shortfalls, and the daily operational realities of running tourism businesses as well as the vast supply chains inextricably tied to the industry. So we raise issues that reflect the lived challenges of an industry and its supply chains that underpin livelihoods, drive investment, and sustain communities across the country.
And that is why we continue to put forward a full package each year, even knowing that only parts of it may land. Because focusing only on what we think Government will accept is not a strategy. It is a compromise.
If we limit ourselves to the “likely”, we risk excluding the “necessary”, while providing a clearer picture of the realities of doing business in Fiji as opposed to how the public sector thinks it’s happening.
This year carries an added layer of complexity. As an election year, there is an understandable pull towards measures that resonate broadly with the general public.
That is the nature of political cycles, and it is not unique to Fiji. But tourism does not sit outside that public interest. It runs through it and provides the revenue base that sustains government services, supports infrastructure development, and underpins community livelihoods. When tourism thrives, the benefits cascade across the nation—funding schools, hospitals, and roads, while creating jobs and opportunities in villages and cities alike. The industry’s success becomes the country’s success, because tourism is not just an economic driver; it is the backbone of Fiji’s shared prosperity. From the smallest village-based operators to the largest resorts, from transport providers to farmers supplying fresh produce, tourism reaches into parts of the country that few other sectors consistently touch. Its footprint is wide, and its impact is deeply interconnected with livelihoods across Fiji.
When tourism performs well, that impact is felt far beyond the industry itself.
Tourism’s recently reported increased earnings are a direct response to increasing activity and experience options beyond resorts and sightseeing, which is encouraging community inclusivity and spreading the tourism dollar further into non-traditional tourism hot spots.
That is why the national budget conversation cannot be framed as a choice between tourism and the general public. In reality, they are deeply intertwined—tourism fuels the very revenues that sustain public services, infrastructure, and community development. The real challenge is not choosing one over the other, but achieving alignment so that policies designed to benefit the wider population also strengthen the sector that drives Fiji’s economic engine. How do we ensure that the measures introduced in the budget—whether aimed at cost relief, infrastructure development, or regulatory reform—also support the sectors that enable economic activity at scale?
Expectations around clarity, practicality and efficiency have remained consistent.
There is little value in digitalising processes if the underlying systems remain duplicative or fragmented. There is limited benefit in introducing incentives if the pathways to access them are unclear or administratively burdensome. And there is growing frustration when compliance requirements or costs expand without a corresponding improvement in outcomes.
These are not new issues. They have been raised before, and they will be raised even more strongly again. Not because we expect immediate resolution, but because they continue to affect how businesses operate on a daily basis.
The same applies to cost structures.
External pressures—fuel, imports, global supply chains—are largely outside of our control. What sits within our control, collectively, is how we manage the domestic environment in which businesses operate. That includes taxes, fees, regulatory processes, and the broader ease of doing business.
Every adjustment in that space has a direct impact on competitiveness.
And competitiveness in tourism is measured against other destinations—often those very ones that are actively refining their own policy settings at a much faster pace than in these islands, to attract the same visitors, airlines, and investment.
A constant reminder that we do not operate in isolation.
This week’s cyclone is an example.
We knew it was coming. We tracked its movement. We prepared accordingly. And when it shifted, as they often do, we adapted quickly.
We did not base our response on a single forecast. We prepared for the full range of possibilities.
That is exactly how we approach the budget.
We submit the full picture, not just the parts we think will land. Because if conditions shift—politically, economically, or operationally—those ideas are already on the table.
And with some luck, perhaps already understood.
And when the moment comes where Government is ready to move on a particular issue, the groundwork has been done.
We will continue to put forward what we believe is right for the industry—not because we expect everything to be accepted, but because it is our responsibility to ensure that nothing essential is left unsaid. Even if only 20 percent is implemented, that 20 percent still moves the industry forward – just incrementally as opposed to more dramatic change. Bigger changes demand faster action, but progress in any measure matters.
The rest will wait, because—like the weather systems that shape our region—timing is everything. And when conditions align, the ideas we have carried forward will surface with full force.
Fantasha Lockington – CEO, FHTA (Published in the Fiji Times on 09 April 2026)
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
The Voice of the Industry
