FIJI TOURISM, SUGAR EARNINGS DROP

PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT

Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center
With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i

FIJI TOURISM, SUGAR EARNINGS DROP

SUVA, Fiji (Fijilive, Nov. 5) - Fiji's tourism industry has not rebounded during its traditional peak tourism season, the Reserve Bank of Fiji says.

In fact, it fell by 5.4 percent in the first eight months of 2007, the bank says in its monthly economic review out today.

The bank says that given lower visitor arrivals and reduced activity in the tourism industry, tourism earnings were lower by an annual 9.0 percent in the first two quarters of this year.

In the sugar industry also, production declined by almost 10.0 percent, cumulative to September, and the recent drought is expected to affect both the 2007 and 2008 crops.

Latest statistics on the building and construction sector also indicate that the total value of work put-in place, cumulative to the second quarter, totaled around FJ$113.4 million [US$74 million], a significant annual decline of 27.2 percent, the RBF said.

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