The Fijian Government has backed down on its controversial plans to introduce a retrospective Tourism Services Tax.
A report in the Fiji Times claims that the five per cent levy will now apply only to new bookings made from September 1, 2026.
The article says the decision was taken following a meeting between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Tourism Action Group.
“Bookings made before 1 September 2026 will not be subject to TST, even where the tourism service is provided after that date,” the Government is quoted as saying.
“This provides certainty for visitors and enables tourism operators to honour existing bookings and contractual arrangements.”
This means Aussies who booked their Fiji holidays before September 1 will not have to pay the new tax, even if they travel and use tourism services after the tax takes effect.
The Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) was just one of the bodies who lobbied against the retrospective proposal, claiming it represented a “broken promise” to Aussie travellers who had already booked their holidays.
“The design and rollout reflect a complete lack of understanding of how the travel booking ecosystem works and it is travellers and travel businesses who will pay the price for that failure,” said Dean Long, ATIA CEO.
Writing exclusively for Traveltalk, travel agent Kelly Ippolito was just one of several advisors opposed to the tax.
“A traveller who booked and paid in full for a September 2026 holiday could reasonably have believed their holiday was fully paid,” she wrote.
“They did not have the opportunity to factor a new 5% tourism tax into their decision because the tax had not yet been announced.”
