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The number of visitors to Fiji in the 65+ age group has been rising and ANZ Senior Pacific Economist Kishti Sen says one inference they can draw from the changing visitor demography is that Fiji is perhaps getting expensive for families travelling with children.

At present, the number of visitors in the 65+ age group has reached 113,302 arrivals. This is 11.5% of total visitors, up 46.9% on 2019 arrivals.

According to Sen, this cohort is the only age group that has been consistently rising in numbers since Fiji reopened its borders in late 2021.

Sen says the daily spending of visitors has been higher since the pandemic.

He adds that some budget-conscious young families may be seeking more competitive destinations.

Sen states that visitor numbers to the Cook Islands, Samoa and Vanuatu have picked up in recent years, and this suggests that leisure travellers in Fiji’s main markets are looking for a better value proposition, particularly in the face of the rising cost of living in the source countries.

He highlights that they have also seen international holiday travellers from Fiji’s source markets return in growing numbers to their favoured Asian destinations such as the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia in recent months.

According to Sen, older cohorts have a higher propensity to consume leisure services.

He adds that this may be due in some cases to lower levels of personal debt and improved financial security from home values and stock market prices.

Sen states that so far, Fiji’s annual total tourism earnings are holding comfortably above two billion dollars.

Another inference he says they can draw is that it may be possible that Fiji is benefiting from multigenerational travel, where senior members of the family travel with members of different generations.

So, he suggests that Fiji may be wise to put in place strategies to attract more of its traditional customer base, young families.

Sen says that as stated earlier, addressing the shortage of rooms available would make Fiji’s accommodation prices more competitive, particularly for school holiday travel and underwrite future tourism growth for Fiji

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