Visitor arrival from China to Fiji has increased tremendously by 93.2 percent for January-February, 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
Tourism Fiji's chief executive Josefa Tuamoto said on Friday that with Fiji's 2010 visitor intake figures from China already showing a massive 90 percent plus spike for the first two months of the year, they were confident the numbers would continue to rise.
For January-February, Chinese arrivals were 3,428 for this year and 1,774 for the same period last year.
And while Fiji traditional source markets Australia was 34,363 for January -February and 23,309 for the same period last year, New Zealand recorded 8,212 for this year and 6,028 for last year.
Tuamoto believed the Chinese market's potential has also been boosted in recent weeks following a Tourism Fiji-lead industry visit to the key cities of Beijing and Guangzhou.
"In China, the Fiji team staged industry workshops with key local partners in Beijing and Guangzhou, both of which were very well attended. They also participated at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair," he said
Tuamoto added that the high levels of interest now being shown in Fiji by the Chinese market were extremely promising.
He said February figures alone had shown a massive 112 percent increase over the same month in the preceding year.
"Admittedly the increases are coming off a very small base but low numbers aside, the huge jump we have seen in our Chinese visitor arrivals is indicative of the potential the market holds," he added.
"It also underlines the efforts Tourism Fiji and its industry colleagues have gone to throughout 2009 and in this first quarter of 2010 to attract this prime source of visitor arrivals," he said.
"Both workshops were very well attended and the Fiji stand at the fair certainly attracted a good deal of attention at the International Travel Fair," he added.
Tuamoto said the China visit, which also encompassed a visit to Hong Kong, was a prime example of how the national tourist office and its industry colleagues were continuing to thrust Fiji's international brand target into the spotlight in emerging markets such as China, China's Hong Kong and India.
Fiji is targeting the luxury or high-end Chinese market, upon gaining Approved Destination status from the Chinese government.
As the world's travel and tourism industry aggressively competes for a share of China's huge outbound travel market, Tourism Fiji says Fiji too has begun to pave ways to entice Chinese visitors. " With greater air accessibility and capacity, visitors from China and Hong Kong are expected to increase substantially," he said.
