Fiji’s Tourism sector is seeing positive signs of growth in visitor arrivals.

The Tourism Minister reports that from January to June this year, there has been a four point seven percent increase in visitor arrivals compared to the same period last year.

Tourism Minister Faiyaz Koya says he was pleased with this growth especially when it was recorded following one of the worst Tropical Cyclone to ever hit the Southern Hemisphere.

President of the Fiji Hotels and Tourism Association Dixon Seeto says the numbers only increased because all the major stakeholders band together to promote Fiji as an attractive destination.

“Discounted air fares, the national carrier helped in that aspect and the hotels kicked in with reduced rates so we put together packages that were very attractive because we needed to kick start the bookings again. And all this helped big time.”

However, Seeto says the challenge now is to get back to making a profit as one cannot run a successful business on discount prices and fares.

Fiji’s Tourism Industry currently contributes close to 37% of GDP and provides thousands of people with employment.