Yachting Tourism Up

Thursday, March 05, 2015

YACHTING tourism’s exponential growth earnings from about $28.9million in 2013 to about $39.6m last year could be directly attributed to co-operation between stakeholders and the Government, says Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association president Dixon Seeto.

He said Fiji was now a world-class yacht destination, thanks to the efforts of investors at Port Denarau and Vuda Marina.

“The figures speak for themselves. These didn’t just magically appear and it is the hard work of the developers of these marinas and the industry working with the government that has achieved this,” Mr Seeto said.

“A large part of the continuing success of yachting tourism is the attractive legislation that was formulated by the Government and the industry that has allowed for this growth.”

He said the Yachting Decree made Fiji an attractive and hassle-free destination for yachts and super yachts entering the country.

“We are being featured in very high profile yachting publications and this business will continue to grow because we have a lot of safe anchorages and beautiful lagoons, and places for yachts to travel to.

“The fact is the more we develop these yachting bases, the more the industry will grow.”

Last year, super yachts spent an average of 104 days in the country and other yachts recorded an average of 172 days.