SUVA, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- A first online tourism survey started Tuesday in Fiji through Vodafone Fiji and Digicel Fiji and other electronic platforms to enable local tourism operators better package in pricing their products for the domestic tourism market.
According to Fiji's news website Fijivillage, the online survey is organized by the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association and Australia's Market Development Facility, in partnership with Tourism Fiji and the Ministry of Tourism.
Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association Chief Executive Officer Fantasha Lockington said this is the first local tourism demand survey being carried out post-COVID-19 to allow tourism operators to better understand the domestic tourist market and the different demands from various segments.
This will help them refine their marketing and pricing strategies for the local market accordingly, she said, adding that the findings of the survey will ultimately benefit guests through better tailored local packages and offers, and the tourism operators and supply chains that rely on their businesses to stay open.
Everyone that completes the local tourism survey will go into a draw to win a one-night stay at a beachfront bure at the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort. There will be 10 winners for the draw on Dec. 18.
Fiji has been striving to restart its tourism industry, which is the backbone of the nation's economy and the biggest foreign exchange earner but has been devastated by travel-related restrictions amid the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
Being in the heart of the South Pacific region, Fiji, an island nation with a population of around 900,000, is blessed with 333 tropical islands that are the home to happiness.
The tourism industry, which accounts for about 35 percent of Fiji's gross domestic product, employs approximately 150,000 people directly and indirectly. In recent years, Fiji received more than 800,000 visitors per year. The Fijian government even has set a goal of developing the tourism sector to a 2.2-billion-Fijian dollar (1-billion-U.S. dollar) industry by 2021.
The tourism industry, which has already laid off about 40,000 people, has been at a grinding halt for the past months. Enditem
