The national airline spends around $50 million on marketing Fiji alone.

While presenting at the Fijian Tourism Expo in Nadi, Fiji Airways Executive Manager Digital Channels and Tourism Partnerships Akuila Batiweti highlighted how important it was to showcase Fiji, especially in a competitive environment.

Batiweti says they have an MOU with Tourism Fiji where they combine their funds to market Fiji globally.

He says Fiji Airways brings in about 70% of tourists.

“We combine those funds. It’s a fraction of what California tourism or Las Vegas spends on marketing, but we believe we’ve got a strong team and a strong effort between both our brands to make sure we get the right people and get them into Fiji.”

Fiji Airways Executive Manager Digital Channels and Tourism Partnerships Akuila Batiweti.

Batiweti also highlighted that the other important strategic economic importance of Fiji Airways to the country is foreign currency reserves.

He says they bring in about 50% of all foreign currency.

“And in 2019, there was about 1.1 billion, and this year we’re on target for between 1.5 and $1.6 billion in revenue, with 95% of that being foreign currencies. So we provide a strategic piece of Fiji’s economy, which is foreign currency reserves. And as you know, for our country, our debts are in foreign currency, so it’s so important for us to make sure we get those foreign currencies in to allow us to manage that.”

Batiweti shared that between 2015 and 2023, they have added eight new destinations or eight new ports, with Canberra in Australia being the latest.

The national airline is looking at four possible new destinations in Asia, Australian ports, and a couple of Pacific Island countries, which they will announce soon.