INTERVIEW WITH REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF FIJI VISITORS BUREAU
On November 20, 2002, Luxury Vacation Home News had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Jo Rayawa - a native Fijian and the Regional Director of the Fiji Visitors Bureau in the United States and Canada. Born and raised in the Province of Rewa on the island of Viti Levu, Rayawa joined the bureau as a marketing officer in the early 1990's and was responsible for marketing Fiji to New Zealanders. In late 1995, he left Fiji and began a three-year term as Regional Director of the Fiji Visitors Bureau in New Zealand and was later transferred to Australia, where he recently completed a four-year term as Regional Director. Within the past few months, Rayawa has relocated to Los Angeles to begin marketing and initiating growth of Fiji's tourism in the North American markets.
LVHN: What can you tell us about visitor trends in the past few years?
RAYAWA: Fiji, since the mid 1990s, broke into the 300,000 mark for total annual visitor traffic. We've been at that level ever since and progressing quite well. We hit the 400,000 mark in 1999, with over 409,000 total visitors. But we experienced decreases in 2000 during our political crisis and we had a long way to climb back up to acceptable levels. But the exciting thing about it is that the tourism industry has shown resilience. The Fiji's Visitors Bureau and all the key partners and airlines banded together to form the Tourism Action Group, which enabled the industry as a whole to engage in tourisms' effective response in the market place, allowing numbers after the year 2000 to come back quicker than anticipated.
LVHN: How are the arrivals adding up for 2002?
RAYAWA: This year we are looking close to a little over 400,000 for total number of arrivals. The US markets will contribute just fewer than 60,000 of that total.
LVHN: That's a significant rise in one year. What do you attribute the increase to?
RAYAWA: The Fiji Visitors Bureau, together with the Tourism Action Group, undertook a couple of strategies to try to eliminate the impact of the crisis. We introduced some key, price driven tactics that we pushed in our key markets of Australia and New Zealand. Given the proximity to Australia and New Zealand, their newspapers put Fiji's crisis on the cover, so we had a bigger battle in our short haul markets. We provided initiatives that even the Australians couldn't pass over! That maintained a good level of traffic to Fiji until the government of these countries were reasonably comfortable with travel safety and they lifted the travel restrictions. This allowed us to freely and effectively promote in those markets.
Our U.S. figures had been quite consistent. In fact, prior to 9-11 the U.S. numbers were making quite a major contribution to travel in Fiji. After 9-11, there was major concern that U.S. and Canadian markets would dry up. Amazingly, it didn't. There was some impact, but the numbers out of U.S. and Canada still continued. And I think a lot has to do with the fact that geographically the South Pacific was a safer haven than any part of the world. This year's figures are a testimony to that!
LVHN: What is the Fiji Visitors Bureau anticipating in the next two to three years?
RAYAWA: As far as the North American markets are concerned, one of our biggest challenges is capacity. We currently have something like 19,000 annual seats available through New Zealand Air and Air Pacific that service this market. Both airlines have plans to increase frequency in 2003, which goes well for our overall planning. Our target in 2003 is 69,000 out of the North American market. And in the next three years we anticipate an increase of 10% to 11% annually, meaning we hope to reach 100,000 visitors from the North American markets in the next several years.
LVHN: How are you going to achieve that?
RAYAWA: We have an effective partnership plan with key wholesalers in these markets who are also part of the partnership we have with the airlines. We'll continue to build that base with regards to wholesaler traffic that comes to Fiji and building a cooperative effort with them.
Secondly, we're looking at building our base with companies that do business to the South Pacific - both to New Zealand and Australia. We're investigating how we can increase our traffic with travelers in Australia and New Zealand by encouraging them to travel home northbound through Fiji. The only problem with that is availability on northbound flights from Fiji back to the U.S. - these flights will quickly sell out. However, with the airlines increasing their frequency and capacity, it will certainly alleviate the challenge we have with regard to heavy congestion on northbound flights.
The third factor will be working on special interest travel - affinity travel and special events to attract more visitors.
LVHN: There seems to be a lot of focus on the U.S. market. Is that true?
RAYAWA: Fiji recognizes North America as the future for tourism. New Zealand and Australian markets will continue to be the "bread and butter" markets because of the proximity, seasonality and school holidays. Their school holidays are perfectly inline with Fiji seasons and thus we know exactly when Australians and New Zealanders will be visiting. But we are looking to the North American travelers as the long-haul markets that will fill in during the year. For example, the wedding and honeymoon industry is a $40 million business in Fiji and of all market segments, North America rates at the top. Diving is also very popular among North Americans. And, the television series, Eco-Challenge Fiji, will release in April 2003 for Canadian and U.S. audiences, which will allow our prominence in these areas to continue growing.
LVHN: What is the average length of a tourist visit?
RAYAWA: Americans' average stay is seven to eight days. For Australians and New Zealanders, it is nine to 10 days. For Canadians, the average length of stay is about 10 days.
LVHN: What are visitors doing during their visits?
RAYAWA: The majority of U.S. visitors are getting married or celebrating their honeymoon, so they spend their days resting - enjoying a little R&R! Most resorts in Fiji have a long list of activities that are complementary, so travelers try kayaking, snorkeling and spear fishing. The Mamanuca region is popular for windsurfing and diving. Although most serious divers go to the Northern part of Fiji to places like Savu Savu and Tavuini, which is great for diving and also popular for yachting.
LVHN: Is there a main yacht harbor in the islands?
RAYAWA: There are four main harbors. One is Latoka, which is about a 20-minute drive from Nadi, the international gateway. The other is Demerau Marina, which is the home base of the three Sheraton properties in Fiji - based in Nandi, which is about a 50-minute drive from the airport. The third major one is at Savu Savu, which is on the northern part of Fiji. Suva is also a major yacht base.
LVHN: What are the options for visitors seeking extended stays in Fiji?
RAYAWA: Many people who stay for more than a month are likely to move from place to place. For example, they may stay two days in Nandi, then fly to an island resort for seven days, then to the northern part of Fiji for a week followed by a return to Viti Levu. It's a progressive itinerary.
LVHN: Do many visitors buy property in Fiji?
RAYAWA: Yes! In fact, in the northern part of Fiji, we have a good number of American investments from people who have bought land. When you're talking land in Fiji, 82% is Native Land owned by the community and indigenous Fijians. Another 9% is Crown Land, owned by the government. The remaining 9% is what they refer to as Freehold Land - land that you can buy and sell. A lot of American and foreign investments are based along these lines. Although I'd say that 70% of all Fijian properties are on Native Land and operated on a 99-year lease. This is why tourism has work so well in Fiji, because the local people can equally participate in and benefit from tourism.
LVHN: How has tourism affected local real estate and the prices, for example, of Freehold Land?
RAYWAYA: It has affected it in a really big way! Tourism is a half-billion dollar industry in Fiji, which is huge for such a small country. With the growth in tourism and potential investment, you could say that the demand to purchase real estate is high and growing.
LVHN: What are your thoughts on the second-home market in Fiji?
RAYAWA: At this time, there are not a lot of high-end investment opportunities at Fiji resorts. Of course there are luxury resorts for vacations, but I am speaking about second homes in Fiji. The Taunovo Bay Resort will present the first Fijian residence club in which North Americans invest. The landowners in Fiji are starting to recognize the impact of tourism. They have the land, but they don't have the capital to coop with a possible overseas investor. That is the only missing link in the formula back home - to entice investors to consider putting capital behind them.
LVHN: Do many visitors arrive in private jets or chartered yachts?
RAYAWA: Yes, especially in past years. The high-end resorts like Wakaya Resorts, Turtle Island, Kaibu Resort and other small, luxury boutique resorts have clients who arrive in private jets and sometimes yachts.
LVHN: We've read that Bill Gates honeymooned in Fiji? Are there a lot of celebrities and stars that visit the islands?
RAYAWA: Yes, that's right and we have a host of others. We had a good batch that came in after the Academy Awards last year. Denzel Washington flew straight to Fiji for his vacation. Dick Cheney and his family were in Fiji two months ago. Fiji is like a hide-away trip for celebrities and "mum" is the word as far as the resorts are concerned.
LVHN: Well, Mr. Rayawa, that concludes all our questions. Do you have anything else you'd like to add?
RAYAWA: I want to redirect the comment I made earlier that the North American markets are the future for Fiji. You can see that the Fiji Visitors Bureau has placed a lot more emphasis and government support on North American investment in Fiji in the next three to four years. There will be a lot more emphasis in terms of our activities placed on this market because we value the efforts of the North American markets to Fiji.
LVHN: We really appreciate your time in speaking with LVHN. Thank you very much.
RAYAWA: Thanks for your time. Good-bye.
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