511,760 visitor arrivals recorded for first 8 months of this year

A total of 511,760 visitor arrivals were recorded for the first eight months of this year which is an increase of 4.8% compared to the same period last year.

Minister for Tourism Faiyaz Koya highlighted this while speaking at the 2016 World Tourism Day Fair held at Ratu Sukuna Park in Suva.

Koya says this growth is all mainly due to marketing of Fiji to overseas countries adding that the recent Gold medal win in Rio played a major role in the marketing of Fiji as people who did not know about Fiji would know about it now.

He says a total of $1.6 billion was earned last year in the Tourism Industry which is an 11% increase from the $1.4 billion earnings in 2014.

Koya says the tourism industry has proved again why it is the backbone of the Fijian economy after it recorded visitor earnings of $340.9 million for the first quarter of this year.

This is a 9.7% increase compared to the same period last year.

Koya says the growth is a testament about the unity and resilience that Fiji has following the devastation of TC Winston.

Meanwhile, Koya also handed out gift packages to Hilton Special School students who were present at the event.