Tourists undeterred by Fiji advice
Sunday August 26, 2007

Travel advisories put in place by Fiji's big brothers following the 2006 coup have not deterred tourists.

A cruise ship, the Pacific Sun, today docked at the Suva Wharf with around 1900 passengers on board. The ship has been cruising around the South Pacific region.

The sea of tourists in their colourful summer attire stood out in Fiji's capital. Those who took time to speak to fijilive.com said that they were not aware of any travel advisories and even then it does not deter them from coming to Fiji.

Brenda and Linda, two friends from Western Australia, said that they have not heard of any such travel advisories.

"We are here to have a look around the capital and have not heard of any ongoing issues in Fiji, but even if we did hear of any problems we think it's long gone", says Brenda.

Another tourist, Neil, says he had been advised by one of his friends in the military not to visit Fiji, but he does not see any problem in doing so.

Another Australian tourist, Christine says she has heard of the travel advisories put in place for Fiji and also of the problems in Fiji, but it does not worry her.

Fiji's interim Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama has repeatedly called on Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA to change their travel advisories.

He said the travel advisories cautioning people against traveling to Fiji are doing immeasurable damage to the country's tourism industry, the country's main revenue earner.

Commodore Bainimarama said the advisories are only creating fear in the minds of investors and tourists and in the process, undermining the already fragile economy of Fiji.