Sustainable Tourism in Fiji

Posted on 10. Jun, 2012 by Steph in Destinations, Oceania

Tourism is a major and essential industry in Fiji. It makes up 25% of the country’s economy and that number is rising quickly (in comparison tourism is only 6.7% of Thailand’s economy). It’s a number that is quickly rising. Tourists bring in money and jobs but they can also mean disaster if not handled correctly. All over the world you can see areas that tourism has hurt more then it helped.

Fiji is different though. The government and business owners in Fiji work really hard to keep tourism sustainable but still profitable.

A few things going on in Fiji right now:

Marine Protected Areas

In Fiji there are over 170 marine protected areas that shelter brilliant coral reefs and tropical fish. This is why Fiji has some of the greatest snorkeling in the world (probably diving too, but I like to stick to the surface).

What makes the MPAs unique in Fiji is that they are managed and protected by individual nearby villages. They work together to restrict fishing, diving and other activities. By protecting these areas the villages are also protecting their livelihoods by keeping fishing sustainable and plentiful and providing more tourism related jobs.

Eco-Resorts

Environmentally friendly resorts are becoming more popular in general, but in Fiji they are a big business. We had a chance to stay at Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort (Jean-Michel is the son of Jacque Cousteau), which is Fiji’s number one eco resort and has won dozens of awards for it’s sustainability initiatives.

Despite being a family-friendly luxury hotel, JMC does a lot to minimize it’s environmental impact and maximize community benefits. They grow much of their food organically on site, importing as little as possible. They offer a variety of eco-friendly activities and even have a marine biologist on staff!

JMC also gives back to the community. Nearly all of the employees come from the nearby village of Nukubakalavu. The resort partners with the village, arranging visits, allowing vendors to come to the resort to sell their wares and helping with community development. Once a year the resort flies in a fleet of doctors, puts them up for free and sends them out to treat the locals for ailments that the local hospital isn’t equipped for.

Keeping Business Local

Tourism can be great for the local economy, but often in developing countries it is expat entrepreneurs who are getting a large slice of the pie.

There are foreign company owners in Fiji as well but many of them seem to be working hard to give back to the community and not just line their pockets. Almost all of our guides and educators during our stay were Fijian as well as many of the resort managers and other higher ups we were able to meet. Tourism has brought a lot of jobs to Fiji, allowing many people to work hard and return to their native homes at night.

A great example is River’s Fiji with whom we went white water rafting. The company was started by whitewater experts from the United States who saw potential in Viti Levu’s beautiful canyons. They hired young men from local villages who grew up playing in the rivers, then trained them as guides. They work with local vendors, encourage sustainability and pay fees to the neighboring tribes who own the rivers.They are offering some of their more experienced guide higher education in the hopes they will take over the management side of the business as well. Their efforts have earned them 5 of Fiji’s “Excellence in Tourism Awards” for Environmental Tourism.

Hopefully this stuff isn’t to try for you guys. For me, learning about business practices in Fiji was a refreshing contrast from other places I’ve observed on my travels. I loved South East Asia but I could never quite shake my feeling of guilt there. Guilt that my very presence was making things worse, causing more pollution, more degradation of the population, just feeding into the problems of countries that have prostrated themselves for tourism. I didn’t feel that in Fiji.

Yes, it’s a poor country and 26% of the people live in poverty, which makes the idea of staying in a luxury resort feel pretty weird. But at least it’s using it’s huge tourism draw to grow in a sustainable and healthy way, and that just makes me feel great.

Special thanks to Tourism Fiji for inviting us to Fiji and covering our stay.

All opinions are my own.

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Tags: fiji

15 Responses to “Sustainable Tourism in Fiji”

Abhi

10. Jun, 2012

Very pretty pics, and thanks for telling about this ‘other’ (and surprisingly positive!) side of tourism.

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Dylan

10. Jun, 2012

Fiji’s a baffling one. On the one hand, in heavily-exploited tourism hotspots like the Yasawa Islands, sustainability never seems to be a priority over monetary gains. Villages lose their identity and privacy with over-saturation of tourists flocking to them, to an extent that they better resemble a film set than genuine homes; certain resorts – like Beachcomber – are only devoted to indulging visitors in drunken debauchery and collecting their handsome bounty.

But then that only represents a small part of the country – in fact I’d say only 10% of the country heavily exploited by tourism.

Some of the best examples of sustainable tourism business models I’ve ever encountered were in Fiji. Places like Tribewanted on Vorovoro Island put the welfare of the locals and their environment before financial benefits, and seek to educate their visitors the merits of sustainability.

And on the subject of ‘keeping business local’ and expat investments, a law that was passed around a century ago that restricted the sales of native land, which consists of 80% of Fiji – foreign investors may only lease land from local indigenous landowners, often the chieftain of a larger area, and even the leasing process itself is strictly regulated by the government. Which means foreign investors won’t be able to buy cheap plots of land, earn a bomb and gallop away with the massive profit without giving anything back to the local population. Pretty cool huh?

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- Michael
  
  10. Jun, 2012
  
  When I heard about how they handled business with land, I was happy. I think this is great.
  
  Reply to this comment
- Steph
  
  12. Jun, 2012
  
  Thanks for all the insight Dylan! I remember hearing about the land which I think is great as well, although I beleive Indo-Fijians are barred from owning land as well which is a bit problematic.
  
  Reply to this comment
Emily in Chile

10. Jun, 2012

This makes me really happy! As a tourist, of course I don’t want to ruin a place’s culture or environment, but I have to admit I don’t necessarily take the time to research the ethics of companies that I use. I’d love to know that the government is ensuring this kind of quality when I travel.

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Austin Lehman Adventures

11. Jun, 2012

Awesome article, i definitely can say that Fiji is on my must to travel list. i think that I might have to stop over there when I head to Australia in January. As stated in one of your other articles, I am not the ultimate planner but I also have a love affair with guide books and adventure travel tours. Since I have some time to plan for Fiji I will definitely check out JMC.

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Amanda

11. Jun, 2012

I love love love this post. Sustainable tourism is fascinating to me, and I always love to read about destinations who are “getting it right.” It sounds like Fiji is.

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Waegook Tom

11. Jun, 2012

I’m glad Fiji is placing an emphasis on sustainable tourism – over-development in such a pristine part of the world could spell disaster in more ways than one (can anyone say land reclaimed by sea?)

Glad to see that local businesses care about the environment and are giving back to the community. That’s the way it should be. Hopefully more countries will take notice and follow Fiji’s lead.

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Michael Figueiredo

12. Jun, 2012

It’s nice to hear that Fiji cares about sustainable tourism. I hope to make it there someday.

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Si

12. Jun, 2012

It reminds me of a joke I heard recently but I can’t remember which stand-up comedian said it. A rich white guy asks for a bottle of water in some fancy restaurant or bar in the West but he doesn’t just want any water.

“I don’t want my own country’s water I want it from some impoverished nation – bring me Fiji’s water!”

It’s funny because it’s true. But Fiji does rely on the money from exporting it’s water.

Reply to this comment
- Steph
  
  13. Jun, 2012
  
  Yeah it’s interesting, it is a major industry for them, but as I mentioned in another post, in fiji they practically give that stuff out for free. You can’t get a bus or taxi without being handed a cold bottle of fiji water.
  
  Reply to this comment
Sarah @ Green Global Travel

22. Jun, 2012

Go Fiji! Glad they’re MPA work with the people that live there. That’s great!

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krystal

02. Oct, 2012

yer mannn i love fiji it comes from the heart <3<3

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