Ritika Pratap 
The Fijian tourism industry is growing at a healthy rate despite subdued growth in traditional source markets, with visitor arrivals already up by 6.9 percent during the first three quarters of 2024.
Westpac Fiji Senior Economist Shamal Chand in his quarterly update on Fiji says they expect this year to end with visitor arrivals totaling at 990,000, just shy of the million mark.
Chand adds that the 13-hour non-stop flight between Fiji and Dallas scheduled to go ahead from December has created a completely new set of opportunities for the tourism sector.
He says this new route is expected to bring around 1,000 additional passengers per week.
Chand adds Fiji Airways is already looking at new routes for further growth prospects.
According to Chand’s projections, the Fijian economy is expected to grow by three percent this year, an upward revision from the previous estimate of 2.5 percent, driven by unexpectedly strong key indicators.
Chand says despite the headwinds of rising prices and sluggish partner countries growth, Fiji’s economy has been buoyed by a robust tourism sector, increased industrial activity, and a rebound in consumption, even amid labour challenges.
He states that this performance is setting the stage for the economy to return to its historical growth trend in the medium term.
Chand also adds that soaring prices have been challenging for consumers for most of this year as 12-month annual average inflation reached 5.3 percent in August 2024, with most of the price push coming from food and non-alcoholic categories.
He adds that as headline inflation among advanced economies recede, they expect domestic inflation to fall in line, however, prices will stay elevated compared to historical standards.
