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Issue No: 532; 1 March 2001
The tourism industry has lost over $250m due to the effects of the terrorist crisis. Fiji Visitors Bureau's Director of Marketing, Bill Whiting has been quoted by today's Fiji Times as saying that the industry lost $225m excluding the loss to the Air Pacific. Air Pacific is expecting a loss of $28m this year. Fiji experienced an all-time record visitor arrival of over 410,000 in 1999, the year in which the People's Coalition Government took office. The Visitors Bureau expects that this level can not be achieved at best until next year, though independent industry analysts say that the repeat of the 1999 type boom can not be expected within the next 10 years. "Though visitor arrivals may pick up, the spending levels in Fiji will not rise proportionately because of a significant change in the quality of visitors arriving in Fiji", he stated. Meanwhile assaults on tourists continues. The American tourist-cum-investor, Ven Lambert, who was brutally assaulted while sleeping in his home, has been flown to Suva for further medical treatment. |
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People's Coalition Government - Fiji Islands |
