Tourism Security and Safety: From Theory to Practice
68
handling of political and related security crises affecting tourism. It demonstrates
the role of effective communication in overcoming problems that arise in small
island nations as a result of natural or man-made crises. In light of the terrorist attacks
in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, understanding the impacts of
security threats to tourism has gained added potency (Berno
and King, 2002).
Tourism in Fiji
Situated in the southwest Pacific, Fiji is an archipelago of over 300 islands, one
third of which are inhabited (TCSP, nd). The 1996 census recorded a total popula-
tion of 772,655 with indigenous Fijians accounting for 51% of the population,
Indo-Fijians 44%, and other ethnic backgrounds 5%. Most of the population (75%)
lives on the main island of Viti Levu with the second largest island, Vanua Levu,
accounting for a further 18%. The remaining 7% are spread across approximately
100 outer islands. According to the Ministry of Information, just under 40% are
urban
dwellers, concentrated mainly in the Suva-Nausori area, Labasa, Lautoka,
Nadi, and Ba (Ministry of Information, 1999).
In terms of its tourism product, Fiji offers all of the attributes associated with a trop-
ical island destination—sun, sea, sand, and surf—along with a reputation for friendly
service and a welcoming resident population (Ministry of Tourism & Transport et al.,
1998). Traditionally, Fiji has traded on this idyllic tourist image. Increased competition
in main source markets (New Zealand and Australia in particular)
from destinations
with similar attributes (e.g., Queensland, Australia, beach resorts in Southeast Asia, and
other South Pacific destinations) has forced Fiji to reassess its tourist product. This has
been reflected in recent efforts to enhance the tourism image of the destination by plac-
ing more emphasis on Fiji’s cultural and environmental richness and diversity. Two
examples include a recent Fiji Visitors’ Bureau (FVB) campaign “Discover the Fiji You
Don’t Know” followed later by “Discover the Fiji You’ll Never Forget.” These devel-
opments were further reinforced in 1998 with the release of
Ecotourism and Village-
Based Tourism: A Policy and Strategy for Fiji
(Harrison, 1999), and by the inclusion of
a section on ecotourism in the tourism sector development plan, which comprised a
component of the National Development Plan (Berno and King, 2001).
Traditionally, Fiji’s tourism industry has been predicated on the dominant short-
haul markets of Australia and New Zealand. The
visitor profile has, however,
changed since 1987 with visitation from Australia declining as a proportion of the
total. The positive element of this change has been that Fiji’s range of source mar-
kets is now highly diversified. Short-haul travelers do, however, remain extremely
important because of the longer average length of stay of visitors from Australia
and New Zealand. This results in a disproportionate influence for Australia in
responding to political crises in Fiji (e.g., the placing of sanctions).
Fiji has no sub-
stantive domestic market and relies almost exclusively on visitors who arrive by air
(McVey and King, 1999).
Sugar and tourism are the mainstays of the Fijian economy, though other
industries such as manufacturing, forestry, fisheries, and mining also make sig-
nificant contributions. Since 1989, tourism has consistently surpassed sugar as
the primary source of foreign exchange. In 1998, tourism
was directly and indi-
rectly responsible for the employment of 45,000 people. The sector generated
foreign exchange earnings of $568.2 million and contributed, directly and indi-
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Fiji Islands: Rebuilding Tourism in an Insecure World
69
rectly to 27% of GDP, up from a reported 20% in 1998. In 1999 the record num-
ber of visitor arrivals (409,955) generated over $600 million. The outlook for
the year 2000 was promising. Until the events of May 19, 2000,
the Fiji Visitors
Bureau arrival target of 412,300 appeared quite realistic. These figures
demonstrate the potential vulnerability of Fiji’s tourism economy to political
instability.
Figure 1 shows the long-term arrivals trend and highlights the severity of both
coups on overall arrivals to Fiji. Table 1 indicates how arrivals for 2000 fell far
short of the target in almost all markets—total arrivals were 28% down on the
comparable figure for 1999. Double digit falls were recorded in all source markets
with
the exception of Korea, which surprisingly grew by 127%, albeit from a low
base. It was not until June 2001, a year after the coup, that the monthly visitor
arrivals exceeded those of the previous year.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
