There is a need to spread economic benefits across all sectors and destinations in Fiji.

And for the general manager of Grand Pacific Hotel, Peter Gee, under the Destination Suva banner, this is the ultimate aim, creating and making Suva a destination for tourists and locals.

To make this happen, a committee of enthusiastic representatives from various business houses in Suva are formulating ways to give the Capital City the attention and attraction it deserves.   

“With Destination Suva, we’re making good steady progress; we want to take it step by step. We have to look at the history of the old destination Suva, so we can understand that. The steering committee have shown great interest and support for the initiative,” Mr Gee said.

“We’ve recognised that the next step is to set up an association, to formalise it and make it a legal entity. Then we appoint directors for the organisation.

“It is very important to understand that the right people are chosen for the project. We need to bring on board people who are interested and those who can represent the organisation (Destination Suva).”

Mr Gee said the first thing to do was to make people understand what Suva offered. 

“We need to communicate that and I think Destination Suva is a catalyst to that.

“I was at the Fijian Tourism Expo and I was talking to this person, I asked him how many times he had been to Fiji, he said 16-17 times. I asked how many times he has been to Suva and he said never.”

Mr Gee noted the success of the tourism expo, saying that it reconfirmed their efforts for Destination Suva.

He also said the media played a big role in promoting Destination Suva, especially in communicating the idea behind the project.

Feedback: ivamere.nataro@fijisun.com.fj