Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, 08 May 2025 – Businesses that adhere to strict regulations often face greater scrutiny and higher operational costs in many sectors, while non-compliant entities continue unchecked, creating unfair competition and systemic inefficiencies. Never mind the loss of government revenue through licensing fees and taxes.
As the tourism industry continues to navigate the challenges of post-pandemic (and soon post-tariff) recovery, we welcome regulatory clarity and remain firm in our commitment to compliance.
However, when the goalposts keep moving – often without warning, and enforcement feels selective, it becomes increasingly difficult to continue playing by the rules in good faith.
There are also clear taxation and enforcement gaps when government agencies impose heavy taxes and compliance burdens on businesses that diligently follow legal requirements, while informal or unregulated operations evade proper oversight, undermining industry integrity.
In recent weeks, industry stakeholders have raised concerns over inconsistencies in applications and unexpected process changes in the areas of liquor licensing, the calculations for the fire inspections process, and regulatory and tax disparities with the rapid mushrooming of Airbnb operations around the country.
An outdated liquor licensing framework that no longer aligns with the operational realities of a tourism industry that must compete fiercely at a global level sees hoteliers grappling with compliance requirements that go from strange to nonsensical.
What makes the situation more frustrating is that, while licensed hotel and resort operators are being held to increasingly stringent standards, we see a growing number of smaller liquor outlets around the country operating with little to no oversight, many of which cause alcohol related havoc within the communities they serve.
This imbalance not only penalises those doing the right thing but also creates an uneven playing field that damages the integrity of the entire system.
The current Liquor Act calls for a tribunal to determine the integrity of a license holder and in the absence of a tribunal being appointed or its ability to sit, issues provisional licenses. And that is just in one division of the country.
Other divisions operate independently, with one recently interpreting the application of the license far differently from its legal interpretation.
The National Fire Authority (NFA) also appears to be encouraging its divisional agencies to apply the same reviewed interpretations of inspection and licensing applicability. Consider, for example, that an inspector in the central division makes the journey from his office to a large manufacturing business across town. The inspection takes an hour or so, and the cost for the inspection and license is noted accordingly for the business to pay for.
If the same inspector travels by boat to a resort just off the coast – does he change the way he applies the fee structure if the resort has the same number of buildings to inspect as the manufacturing business in the city, and by the same token – is the resort (that is expected to cover their own fire fighting in the event of a fire) charged more because they were further away despite paying for the trip to get there with meals?
Despite our repeated efforts to improve clarity or make amendments, the responses from regulatory authorities have been vague or non-existent – efforts that are further hampered by government email boxes automatically responding their incapacity to actually respond because they were “full”, making the recent proliferation of government workers using Gmail addresses to enable them to receive communications understandable under the circumstances.
The absence of clear guidance, standardised requirements, and predictable timelines has only deepened the uncertainty for businesses generally, especially those preparing for renewals or planning to expand their service offerings.
The messaging for government agencies is this: you are making compliance difficult.
Yet from the Tax Department to the Municipal Councils, the drive to change the mindset of businesses in Fiji to follow rules and comply with regulatory requirements has been on-going for many years, contradicting efforts to foster a more business friendly environment.
While authorities emphasise the importance of adherence to regulations, the lack of consistency, efficiency, and transparency in enforcement has created unnecessary hurdles that discourage compliance rather than facilitate it. Businesses striving to meet obligations, renew licenses, and expand operations find themselves navigating bureaucratic complexities and unclear processes, which ultimately stifle growth and erode productivity and investment confidence.
A more coordinated, predictable, and streamlined approach across government agencies is essential to reducing uncertainty, encouraging compliance, and driving economic progress, ensuring that regulatory efforts align with the real-world needs of businesses.
To be clear, with sufficient notice and clearly articulated reasoning, the private sector understands why licensing and application costs might need to be increased, especially if there are noticeable efficiency gains visible with the increases.
One example that has been shared with the Immigration Department is the openness to paying more for extensions to work permits, for the business visa that was shortened to 14 days and even for passport renewals, but only if these processes were streamlined and the turnaround times improved.
We commend the Ministry of Trade for its efforts to digitise and streamline business processes through the businessNOW FIJI portal, which includes plans to integrate liquor licensing into the platform, among other licenses.
While this is a promising development, systems can only be as effective as the policies that underpin them, and those policies must reflect industry realities, be applied uniformly across the board. while ensuring that the departments that manage them understand how their collective productivity drives wider economic growth and progress.
Additionally, we continue to work closely with the Ministry of Tourism and IFC on developing a comprehensive Tourism Act that could support regulatory frameworks with best practice standards and provide a more predictable compliance environment for operators.
A unified, coordinated government approach—across all ministries and agencies—is not only essential, it is possible despite what naysayers believe.
No one is asking for special treatment. What they’re asking for is predictability, transparency, and equity. These are not unreasonable expectations.
Tourism operators do not just include hotels and resorts that already invest heavily in compliance, training, and responsible service practices, and who serve as a benchmark for potential businesspeople looking to bring critically needed foreign investment in.
It also includes very critical supply chains like sea, land and air transport, food & beverage suppliers, tours, experiences and adventure services, and entertainment and craft suppliers – the vast majority of whom are SMEs.
SMEs that do not have the extensive business support that helps them navigate the myriad requirements that are demanded for compliance.
As we continue our discussions with the relevant Government agencies, our commitment to supporting meaningful, constructive reform remains unwavering. We are not opposed to regulation—in fact, we welcome it when it brings clarity and accountability. But meaningful reform must go beyond simply tweaking forms or digitising outdated processes. What’s truly needed is a thorough review and modernisation of the legal frameworks that govern general regulatory practices in Fiji, to ensure it reflect today’s operational realities and support sustainable economic growth.
Enforcement, too, must be balanced. The current situation, where some businesses face strict compliance while other providers operate with little oversight, is unsustainable. It is also vital that the voices of industry stakeholders are not just heard but actively involved in shaping the policies and changes that directly impact their operations.
Until these essential improvements are addressed, licensed tourism operators will continue to grapple with uncertainty and regulatory pressures that stifle growth and erode trust in the system.
We are not seeking special treatment. What we are asking for is a fair and functional framework—one that encourages compliance, respects due process, and allows every operator, regardless of their industry, their size and their location, to compete on equal terms.
Because without equity in enforcement and clarity in regulation, the integrity of the entire licensing regime is at risk.
Let’s keep the dialogue open and the pressure on until we get the balanced regulatory environment this, and every other industry, for that matter, rightly deserves.
Fantasha Lockington – CEO, FHTA (Published in the Fiji Times on 08 May 2025)
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
The Voice of the Industry
