Current location:sport >>
Fiji pins growth hopes on Chinese tourists, plans direct flights from HK
sport29583People have gathered around
IntroductionChinese tourists can potentially boost Fiji's tourism as their numbers are expected to surge in the ...
Chinese tourists can potentially boost Fiji's tourism as their numbers are expected to surge in the years to come, said Tourism Fiji, the tourism marketing arm of the Fijian government.
China is on course to become the fourth-largest tourism and strategic market for Fiji as the Chinese outbound travel market recovered rapidly after the COVID-19 pandemic, with an increase of 1,000 visitors from China each month starting this year, amid strong passenger demand, said Brent Hill, CEO of Tourism Fiji.
"We expect the country's outbound tourism to return to the level of the pre-pandemic era as soon as next year," he said.
According to Hill, Chinese tourists are very important given their great number of visitor arrivals during Fiji's low season, which has a knock-on effect on several other related businesses.
"We're keen for the Chinese (outbound travel) market to grow again as other markets continue to open around the world. Chinese tourists spend more in Fiji, with their expenditure going up compared with that of the pre-COVID era."
According to the China Tourism Academy, the research arm of China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 40.37 million Chinese mainland tourists visited overseas destinations in the first half of this year.
In response, Fiji Airways expects to come up with more flights to attract more Chinese tourists.
Fiji Airways plans to introduce five direct flights from Hong Kong to Nadi, Fiji's third-largest city, next month. The airline has already increased the number of weekly Hong Kong-Nadi flights from two to three in June, said Kamal Haer, global sales executive manager of Fiji Airways.
Tourism is the island nation's most important industry and its biggest foreign exchange earner.
According to Hill, the importance of the Chinese market for Fiji's tourism industry cannot be overstated. China is a rapidly growing tourism market and a crucial source for Fiji's tourism.
Even globally, China offered 170 million trips and contributed $254 billion to the global travel economy in 2019. Before COVID-19, Fiji welcomed over 50,000 tourists annually from China, making it one of Fiji's top markets, generating $98.5 million in revenue, Hill said.
Since the resumption of the Hong Kong-Nadi flights in April, Fiji has welcomed 13,152 Chinese visitors. "In 2023, our air capacity has rebounded impressively, and by December this year, we will be flying full capacity as per 2019 levels to Hong Kong," he said.
According to the Civil Aviation Administration of China, passenger traffic volume on international routes in the first half recovered to 23 percent of the total seen in the same period of 2019, with international passenger traffic volume in June recovering to 41.6 percent compared with the same period in 2019.
Hill said the Tourism Fiji team will step up cooperation with local agencies in China to cooperate on the promotion of outbound tourism to Fiji.
Tourism Fiji, Fiji Airways and Trip.com Group, a Chinese travel service provider, had signed a three-year agreement to collaborate on travel marketing initiatives, products and data, to fully optimize the travel experience for tourists in Fiji.
"Our original target was that by the end of 2024, we would be back to that peak level, but things are going so well (we could reach our target earlier than that)," said Hill. "We started the year with the first couple of months above 2019 already ... I'm very optimistic that we can do really well this year."
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Worldly Waves news portal”。http://spain.ekjotinstitute.com/html-25b699945.html
Related articles
Shooting injures 2 at Missouri high school graduation ceremony
sportCAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — Two people were injured when gunfire broke out during a high school gradu ...
【sport】
Read moreMan City beats Brighton 4
sportBRIGHTON, England (AP) — Manchester City chalked up another big win in its pursuit of an unprecedent ...
【sport】
Read moreDAILY MAIL COMMENT: Nationalisation is no answer to rail chaos
sportWith train reliability at a dire low, passengers forced to pay extortionate fares and often overcrow ...
【sport】
Read more
Popular articles
- Ohio judge to rule Monday on whether the state’s abortion ban stands
- Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry share lead in team event at TPC of Louisiana
- Debates to play a major role in Pennsylvania's 2024 US Senate election
- David Bowie was right
- Georgia Republicans choose Amy Kremer, organizer of pro
- Russian deputy defense minister detained on bribery charges
Latest articles
Messi in and Dybala out in Argentina squad for pre
Driver charged with negligent homicide in fiery crash that shut down Connecticut highway bridge
Indonesia and Japan advance at U23 Asian Cup. South Korea out of contention for Paris Olympics
Elias Díaz gets key hit as the Rockies rally for a wild 10
'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes
Auto industry insiders highlight interdependence between China, Europe
LINKS
- China's top diplomat holds talks with Brunei's second minister of foreign affairs
- Bayer Leverkusen completes unprecedented unbeaten Bundesliga season and Cologne relegated
- Israeli airstrikes kill 40 in central Gaza refugee camp
- Woman held on suspicion of assault after launching 20
- Team Penske in spotlight as it prepares run for Indy 500 pole with Larson a serious contender
- Jessica Simpson, 43, shares makeup
- Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Gonzalez seeks unity in first rally
- Chelsea women rout United to win 5th straight title as manager Emma Hayes exits for US
- Girls in Rio favela hope to play in 2027 Women's World Cup
- Chinese ambassador warns UK not to further jeopardize ties