The Fijian economy is experiencing a strong rebound in tourism, with visitor arrivals steadily increasing since the re-opening of the border in 2021.
This is having positive spill-over effects on other sectors of the economy, says the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
According to the RBF, visitor arrivals are on track to returning to pre-pandemic levels, providing a much-needed boost to the Fijian economy.
Despite global and domestic tensions, Fiji’s economy has achieved growth this year, with an upward revision to the growth projection, nonetheless, risks to the outlook remain titled to the downside.
Global tensions are from continued geopolitical tensions, rapid hikes in advanced economies, and the possibility of a global recession.
“In the first four months of 2023, visitor arrivals totalled 252,245 visitors, slightly higher than the arrivals recorded in the same period in 2019,” RBF said.
“The outcome was driven mainly by higher arrivals from our traditional source markets of Australia, New Zealand and North America, contributing 82.5 per cent to total visitor arrivals. Industry feedback reveals that the average hotel occupancy rate and revenue earned from rooms sold have outpaced pre-pandemic levels.”
“The positive efforts from improved labour market conditions, higher remittances and upswing in credit are reflected in the significant pickup in consumption activity,” RBF said.
The Central Bank said partial indicators for consumption, such as net VAT collections, new lending for consumption purposes and electricity consumption, have recorded annual gains so far in the year.
