For Fiji tourism & civil aviation, increased budget produced
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, Fiji, has fixed a total budget of $52.3 million.
The Fiji minister entrusted with this, Viliame Gavoka, says that on their list, the big items comprise Tourism Fiji marketing, which is allocated $30 million, followed by operations with $7 million and for the Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji, $5 million.
For the domestic year subsidy, Gavoka says that $1.1 million has been kept aside and for the Vanua Levu Tourism Program, $5 million has been allocated.
He says that in spite of contributing 40 percent of the national GDP, the tourism is creating direct as well as indirect employment opportunities, failed to get the support required to help the economy of Fiji.
When he joined six months back, they had a mixed staff set off of about 10. Regardless of these restrictions, they managed to give the main programs.
Tourism and civil aviation, these two departments, were under already-used portfolios previously where they were imperceptible.
They will in this budget fix that. Among the ministry of commerce, tourism was one of them; it was just a department among 10 others.
Gavoka says together, the alliance government is creating the two departments that would help them manage the tourism in a better way.