‘Money Tourists Spend Should Help Protect Ecosystems’

Fiji is on course to welcome one million visitors annually post-COVID, surpassing Fiji’s population.

On Wednesday, Fisheries Minister Semi Koroilavesau revealed this while speaking on Sustainable Tourism at the 7th Our Ocean’s Conference in Palau.

As a world-class tourism destination emerging from the pandemic, he said Fiji was using its re-opening to the world as a reset for a highly sustainable and resilient tourism sector.

“We never doubted that our tourism brand would keep its value and our industry would bounce back,” Mr. Koroilavesau said.

“With arrivals climbing by the month, we now have the proof. The challenge is now to protect it against future adversity to make it truly sustainable.

“Visitors to Fiji should come to see our reefs, forests, and beautiful biodiversity, the money they spend in Fiji should help protect those ecosystems, and they should leave with a new understanding of the value of the marvels of nature they’ll experience in our islands.”

He said the onus was on everyone to take action to ensure that the oceans were protected not only for tourism and its economic benefits but also for their intrinsic value as a critical component of the global ecosystem.

“I believe this crisis we are facing, this crisis of climate and oceans, has helped us understand how unique and blessed we are. It has helped us see where our assets truly lie and how we can use them to build a solid future for ourselves and our grandchildren. It has also focused our attention on what we could lose, and losing that is unthinkable,” he said.

“Sustainability is the drua we will sail into the future. It is already becoming second nature. But most importantly, it is already showing its value as an economic strategy.”

He reiterated Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama’s stance on taking an assertive stand in the global arena, focusing the world’s attention on small island states’ plight in dealing with unsustainable development and climate change.

“We must force the world to look, and we must hold their attention until they see what is happening. But while we wait for the World to catch up; we are acting at home. We cannot ask others to do what we are not willing to do ourselves.”