Of the respondents, 99% said they would travel to Fiji if a ‘bubble’ was formed, with 54% keen to travel as soon as they could. Nearly 40% indicated they planned to book their trip to Fiji through a travel agent. Also 54% of them indicated that they have never been to Fiji before, opting for more long haul destinations in the pre-Covid world.

Additional results indicate that 83% intend to travel for at least five to seven days, with 15% planning on visiting Fiji for a few weeks – 38% would book boutique accommodation, versus the 28% who would book an international chain.

Sonya Lawson, regional manager Tourism Fiji NZ regional office, says the organisation’s re-entry strategy to the market is largely focused on its trade relationships in New Zealand.

‘Our plan is to drive consumers directly to the trade to book their next trip to Fiji.’ She says despite the many setbacks of 2020, Tourism Fiji’s confidence is at an ‘all time high’ that Kiwis want to travel to the destination when they are finally able to do so.

At the time of going to press Fiji had surpassed 300 days of being Covid community free and New Zealand had also maintained that staus since 18 November. (See Fiji story p4)