Video丨Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Fiji: hope to further tap into the Chinese tourism market

Brent Hill, Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Fiji, expressed his hope to further tap into the Chinese tourism market and bring Fiji's warm hospitality, natural beauty, and unique travel experiences to more Chinese tourists. Since Fiji opened its international borders in December 2021, it has welcomed over 630,000 international tourists in 2022, achieving a strong recovery in the local tourism industry. According to the statistics of Tourism Fuji, Chinese tourists make up a significant proportion of visitors to Fiji.

Recently, Brent Hill joined forces with a group of tourism partners in Fiji to hold roadshows in Chinese cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, where they held business negotiations with over 60 travel agencies to promote its new brand slogan – "Fiji: Where Happiness Comes Naturally" and introduce its rich tourism resources and wonderful experiences. It is reported that this is the first time Tourism Fuji has appeared in the Chinese market since the outbreak of the pandemic. Brent Hill stated that China is an important tourist source country for Fiji, and that Fiji is fortunate to be one of the first 20 designated pilot destinations for outbound group tours by the Chinese government.

Tourism Fuji has launched tourism promotional videos for its new slogan in both Mandarin and Cantonese for the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, respectively, which is rare in the past. Brent Hill stated that they hope to use local languages to introduce interesting content to Chinese tourists.

"According to past tourist data, the GBA ranks third in China as a source region for tourists to Fiji, after Shanghai and Beijing. I believe that this position will continue to remain stable. From a global perspective, currently the two main source countries for tourists visiting Fiji are Australia and New Zealand, with China ranking fourth. However, with the increase in aviation capacity and reception capacity, the number of Chinese tourists will continue to grow, and we hope that China will eventually surpass the United States to become our third-largest tourist source country, and we are quite confident about this," said Brent Hill.

After three years of the pandemic, the global tourism industry is in recovery. What is the current tourist spending behavior? What high-end tourism services can Fiji provide for tourists from the GBA of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau? Brent Hill stated that they have observed that tourists are now generally willing to spend more money on unique experiences rather than material goods. He believes that tourists from the GBA prefer higher-end tourism consumption and unique travel experiences. They typically choose to stay on the main island for a few days and then go on island-hopping tours to nearby small islands. Some independent travelers prefer to seek new exciting experiences such as snorkeling, surfing, and river rafting, and they are also willing to try different flavors of food. "This type of tourist is the type that I favor very much. I believe that they are getting a genuine vacation experience," said Brent Hill.

再出发·外旅高端访谈录

斐济旅游局全球首席执行官何博贤：希望进一步深耕中国市场

“我们希望进一步深耕中国市场，把斐济的热情、友好和纯天然的自然风光旅游体验带给更多的中国游客。”斐济旅游局全球首席执行官何博贤 (Brent Hill)表示，自2021年12月斐济开放国际边境以来，2022年斐济已迎来63万多人次的国际游客，实现了当地旅游业的强劲复苏。根据斐济旅游局的接待统计，全球华人圈在前往斐济的游客中占有重要的角色比例。

近日，何博贤携手斐济一众旅游合作伙伴，先后在中国北京、上海等城市举行路演，与中国的60余家旅行社进行了商务洽谈，推广斐济作为“天生快乐”的休闲旅游度假胜地丰富的旅游资源和体验。据悉，这是斐济旅游局在疫情后首次亮相中国市场。何博贤 (Brent Hill）表示，中国是斐济重要的国际客源市场，斐济非常幸运能够成为中国政府首批开放的20个出境游试点国家之一。

斐济旅游局将“斐济，天生快乐”作为全新品牌营销推广口号，旅游推广宣传片分别以普通话和粤语版本在中国内地和香港市场推出，这在以往极为少见。对此，何博贤表示，他们希望使用本地化的语言向中国的游客介绍他们感兴趣的内容。

“从过往接待数据看，大湾区是排在上海和北京之后，斐济在中国的第三大客源市场，相信这一地位还将持续稳固。而从全球范围看，目前斐济最主要的两大客源国是澳大利亚和新西兰，中国排在第四。但随着航空运力和接待能力的提升，中国的游客人数将持续增长，我们希望最终和美国一样，中国会成为我们的第三大客源市场，并且对此颇有信心。”何博贤 (Brent Hill）说。

全球旅游业历经三年后复苏，游客在消费行为上有何不同？斐济可以为来自粤港澳大湾区的游客提供哪些高端旅游服务？对此，何博贤表示，他们观察到，现在的游客普遍愿意花更多的钱去购买独特的体验，而非物品。他认为，粤港澳大湾区市场的游客有着更加高端的旅游消费，更属意独特的旅游体验，通常会选择在主岛待上几天，然后选择周边的小岛做跳岛游，其中一些散客更愿意去寻求新的刺激性的体验，如浮潜、冲浪、河上漂流等，他们也乐于去尝试不同口味的食物。“这类游客是我本人非常青睐的一类游客，我相信他们获得的是真正的度假体验。”何博贤 (Brent Hill）说。(更多新闻资讯，请关注羊城派 pai.ycwb.com)

文、视频丨羊城晚报全媒体记者 刘星彤

图丨斐济旅游局提供

实习生丨宋骥才

翻译丨刘佳慧

来源丨羊城晚报·羊城派

责编丨古司祺