Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, 11 June 2026 – Complaints are never the most pleasant part of tourism, but they are one of the most useful tools available to monitor feedback on service levels, operational oversight and marketing impact.
No hotel, resort, activity operator, transport provider or tourism business wants to receive a complaint. No staff member wants to be told they fell short. No manager enjoys explaining why something went wrong. But complaints are part of the business we are in, and if we are honest with ourselves, they often show us exactly where the work still needs to be done.
At the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, complaints reach us from time to time through different channels. Some come directly from visitors or local guests. Some are copied to us by agencies, organisations or members of the public. Many more go elsewhere first, whether to the Consumer Council, Fijian Competition & Consumer Commission (FCCC), Tourism Fiji, the Ministry of Tourism, property management teams, online booking platforms, travel agents, review sites or social media. Others may never be made at all because people feel defeated, unsure where to go, or convinced that nothing will happen.
That is why we do not dismiss complaints lightly. When someone takes the time to raise a concern properly, it is information that requires communication. It may not always be complete. It may not always be fair. It may not always tell the full story. But it tells us that somewhere in the visitor experience, something has broken down.
The complaints that come through are varied. Some relate to service quality, room conditions, refunds, billing, bookings, staff conduct, safety, maintenance, hygiene, transport or activity operators. Others involve a misunderstanding of property rules, cancellation policies, third-party booking arrangements, or expectations that may not have been clearly explained at the start.
There are serious complaints that require careful handling and others that leave everyone scratching their heads because the expectation or demand is not always realistic. That is tourism. It is a people industry, and people bring different expectations, moods, cultures, budgets, assumptions and levels of patience with them.
But that does not absolve us of responsibility. In fact, it makes our responsibility greater.
While we are not a regulator, a court, a complaints tribunal or an enforcement agency, we can help direct a complaint to the right channel, ask for clarification where appropriate, encourage a proper response, and record issues that may point to wider industry gaps.
When a complaint involves an FHTA member, we have more room to assist. We can contact the member, ask for facts, request their side of the story, and encourage them to respond professionally. If the complaint is valid, we can push them to lift their standards, correct the issue, review their processes and, bluntly, get themselves back into shape. If the complaint is weak, exaggerated or missing key facts, we can also help ensure the member is not unfairly judged without evidence. Complaints should be met with facts, logic and proper documentation, not noise.
That is the value of an industry association. We are not here to blindly defend poor practice, but we are also not here to accept every allegation as proven simply because it has been typed into an email or posted online. Fairness works both ways. Guests deserve to be heard, and businesses deserve the opportunity to respond.
The harder question comes when the business is not an FHTA member. In those cases, our role is very limited. We cannot speak for them. We cannot discipline them.
We cannot require them to respond to us. So who looks into those complaints? Who checks whether they are licensed, compliant, insured, safe, clean, properly registered, or operating within the law?
For now, that responsibility sits with the relevant regulatory and enforcement bodies, depending on the issue, but we have found – more often than not – that many complaints fall through the cracks. It may involve the Ministry responsible for tourism, FCCC, the Consumer Council, Police, municipal councils, health authorities, licensing bodies, transport regulators, maritime authorities, or other agencies with legal powers.
This is also where the recently passed Tourism Act becomes important, once it comes into force and the supporting regulations, policies and procedures are properly put in place. The Act is intended to create a more modern framework for tourism regulation, development and management in Fiji. It provides for Fiji Tourism Standards, a Tourism Enterprise Register, registration requirements, legal compliance declarations, tourism criteria self-assessments, audits, inspections, compliance notices and spot checks.
Hopefully, that means Fiji is moving towards a clearer system where tourism enterprises should be registered, standards should be more visible, compliance should be checked, and poor practice should have consequences. It also means complaints may become more useful as part of a risk-based approach, where patterns of non compliance can help guide where attention is needed.
That is a welcome direction.
But the law will only be as good as the systems that support it. Standards must be practical. Registration must be clear. Enforcement must be fair. Smaller operators must be helped to understand what is required. Good operators must not be buried under unnecessary paperwork. Weak operators must not be allowed to keep trading below acceptable standards while everyone else carries the reputational cost.
This matters because one weak operator can affect the reputation of many good ones.
A visitor does not always know who is a member of what association, who is licensed, who is regulated, or who is operating properly. They simply know they paid for a Fijian experience and that experience fails badly; the disappointment does not stay neatly attached to one business name. It can quickly become a comment about Fiji.
That is the risk we all carry.
Still, the difficult cases matter because they test us.
A maintenance fault can happen, same as delayed transfers, booking misunderstandings, weather disruptions or a staff member having an off day. While not always the end of the world, a manageable problem that turns into a damaging complaint is poor handling after the fact.
A guest who reports a problem and is ignored will remember being ignored. As does a guest who asks for an explanation and receives defensiveness, or who raises a safety concern and sees no urgency, and assumes the business does not care. A guest who receives a clear, respectful response may still be unhappy, but they are less likely to feel insulted or abandoned.
Managers must ensure staff are trained not only in service delivery, but in complaint handling. Frontline teams must know when to escalate an issue. Supervisors must be empowered to fix problems quickly. Owners must invest in maintenance before small defects become public complaints. Booking teams must make policies clear. Activity operators must put safety ahead of convenience. Receipts, rates, inclusions, cancellation terms and property rules must be easy to understand.
Sometimes we are exasperated not because something went wrong, but because the response was avoidable. A slow reply, a missing incident report, unclear staff accounts, poor record keeping, or dismissive language can make a business look worse than the original issue. In modern tourism, how a complaint is handled is part of the guest experience.
Guests also have responsibilities. They should raise issues early, provide evidence where they can, read booking conditions, respect property rules, and use the correct channels for serious matters. Social media may feel satisfying in the moment, but it is not always the best place to resolve an issue. A fair complaint is stronger when it comes with facts, dates, receipts, photos, correspondence and a clear explanation of what outcome is being sought.
At the same time, businesses must understand that social media and online reviews are now part of the operating environment. One unhappy guest with a phone can reach more people in an afternoon than a formal letter used to reach in a month. That may feel unfair, especially when only one side is being told, but it is the reality of tourism today. The best protection is not silence or defensiveness. The best protection is good service, good documentation and a culture that fixes problems before they grow legs.
These are all signals showing us where communication is weak, where standards may be slipping, where policies are misunderstood, and where the industry needs stronger systems. They also remind us that tourism’s reputation is shared. A good experience strengthens all of us. A poor one can damage more than one business.
That is why everyone has a role. Operators must deliver what they promise. Staff must treat guests with respect. Managers must respond quickly and professionally.
Government agencies must enforce standards fairly. Visitors must complain responsibly. Industry bodies must keep listening, guiding and advocating for better systems.
We know complaints will never disappear completely. There will always be someone unhappy. There will always be a situation where expectations, reality and communication do not meet perfectly in the middle. The goal is not a fantasy world where no one ever complains. The goal is an industry where the significant majority are properly looked after, where genuine issues are fixed quickly, and where weak practice is not allowed to become normal.
Because we are Fiji and we are still the best at what we do. We must simply keep at it.
Fantasha Lockington – CEO, FHTA (Published in the Fiji Times on 11 June 2026)
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
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