As an Australian travel agent who routinely sells Fiji holidays and someone who has personally visited Fiji many times to support and enjoy this wonderful country, I feel it is important to offer a perspective from the other side of the tourism equation.
I don’t object to Fiji wanting to support Fiji Airways, nor do I object to the Government introducing a tourism tax. What I do question is the way this has been implemented.
Your statement says Government began engaging with industry in June, despite the original implementation date being July 1. It was then moved to August 1 and finally September 1.
While these extensions may have given businesses additional time to prepare their systems, they do not give consumers additional time to prepare financially for a new cost on holidays they may have booked and, in many cases, already paid for months ago.
A traveller who booked and paid in full for a September 2026 holiday could reasonably have believed their holiday was fully paid.
They did not have the opportunity to factor a new 5% tourism tax into their decision because the tax had not yet been announced.
That is the part of this policy that I find difficult to accept.
If the Government had announced the tax now but implemented it from September 1, 2027, allowing new bookings to be priced accordingly while honouring existing bookings, I believe that would have been a much fairer approach.
It would give consumers transparency, allow the industry to properly incorporate the cost into future pricing, and still achieve the Government’s objective.
I also don’t think the 5% should be considered in isolation. Five per cent may not sound like a huge amount on its own, but it is being added to an existing 12.5% VAT, as well as the $FJ200 departure tax. For a family spending thousands of dollars on a Fiji holiday, these costs add up.
And Fiji is no longer the value destination it once was for many Australian families. I know this not only professionally, but personally.
In 2022, I personally paid $3,442 for a seven-night holiday for two adults, including Fiji Airways flights, airport transfers and an all-inclusive stay at the Naviti.
Today, I can see a seven-night package at around $2,499 per person – $4,998 for two – but that is only breakfast plus a $500 resort credit.
It is not a like-for-like comparison and I would not claim that this represents a 45% increase in the cost of an equivalent holiday.
However, it does illustrate the change in value. I would now be paying approximately 45% more for two people while receiving significantly fewer inclusions. The meals and drinks that were included in my 2022 all-inclusive holiday are no longer included.
That matters when families are deciding where to spend their holiday budget.
Fiji is competing with destinations around the world and the question isn’t simply whether a 5% tax is affordable. It is whether the total cost still represents good value compared with the alternatives.
I also understand the Government’s argument that supporting Fiji Airways is important to protecting Fiji’s tourism industry.
But if that is the justification, I think it is also reasonable to ask for transparency about how that support is being used and whether the underlying issues affecting the airline are being addressed.
I have personally experienced being denied boarding on an oversold Fiji Airways flight despite having a confirmed booking. The compensation ultimately cost the airline more than the fare I had paid.
I don’t suggest that one experience represents the airline as a whole, but it does demonstrate why it is reasonable to ask whether additional funding alone addresses the underlying challenges.
And the concerns about the implementation are not simply coming from one small group of tourism operators. Industry bodies, including the Australian Tourism Industry Association (ATIA), have also raised concerns about the measure and its impact.
I say all of this as someone who genuinely loves Fiji and wants to continue sending Australian travellers there. I have personally supported Fiji’s tourism industry many times and will continue to do so.
This isn’t about refusing to contribute. It is about ‘when and how’ the contribution is introduced.
Fiji deserves the revenue. Fiji Airways deserves support. The tourism industry deserves certainty. And consumers deserve to know the true cost of their holiday before they commit to it.
Those things should not be mutually exclusive.
What are your thoughts on the new Fiji tourism tax? Please send your comments to: [email protected]
