Air Pacific earns praise from Fiji

source: Travel Mole

Tourism Fiji has attributed strong growth in the number of Chinese visitors to direct Hong Kong-Nadi services established by Air Pacific.

Tourism Fiji CEO Josefa Tuamoto has applauded Air Pacific’s decision to add a third service on the route from next December.

Tuamoto said the airline’s decision to implement the Hong Kong-Nadi service ten months ago had been more than vindicated by the substantial increase in Chinese visitor arrivals Fiji had welcomed since Air Pacific commenced flying on the route.

Tuamoto said while the numbers came off a relatively small base, the 7,684 Chinese visitor arrivals recorded for the period January to June 2010 represented a close on 32 percent increase over the same period last year.

“This has effectively pushed China into place as our eighth main source of international arrivals.”

Tuamoto also paid tribute to the efforts the local tourism industry in raising Fiji’s profile in China.

“We’ve put in some very hard yards to attract and engage this prime source of visitor arrivals."

This, he said, included attending major consumer and trade events and staging travel agents workshops in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Last month Tourism Fiji launched the national tourist office’s first ever Fiji travel planner for the Chinese market.