Fiji The New Bali For Australian Travellers
The Sunday Age
Sunday February 26, 2006
THE number of Australians visiting Indonesia dropped dramatically last year but interest in Fiji and Thailand as beach holiday destinations has continued to rise.
Bureau of Statistics figures show old favourites such as Britain and New Zealand remained high on the Australian traveller wish list last year but Indonesia, usually a top choice, was hit hard by the October 1 bombings in Bali, the second blasts to rock the island in two years. "What we've found historically is that if there's a problem with one destination people tend to keep travelling but they go to another alternative destination that has similar appeal," Haydn Long of Flight Centre said. "In the case of Bali . . . what we've found is people tended to switch to other coastal destinations with good proximity to Australia, good affordability and quality, natural appeal. Fiji is the obvious choice (as well as) parts of Thailand, Phuket in particular. Hawaii has also been looking fairly strong."From October to December last year the number of Australian visitors to Indonesia more than halved, dropping from 38,100 a month to as low as 15,700 in November. The total for 2005 was 319,700 - a slump of about 15,000 - compared with 2004 when 335,100 short-term visits were recorded. Travel to Fiji grew from 175,400 in 2004 to 196,900 in 2005. Australians accounted for a quarter to a third of all tourism there between 2001 and 2004. Ili Matatolu, regional director of the Fiji visitors' bureau, said stronger advertising campaigns would be run in Australia this year to lure more visitors to Fiji.
© 2006 The Sunday Age
