Pacific Tourism Organisation Chief Executive Officer – Chris Cocker,
Dr Paula Vivili, Deputy Director-General – Science and Capability, Pacific Community,
POETCom Coordinator – Jim Pierce,
Members and Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Bula vinaka, good morning to you all.
When we think about Agritourism – we visualise agriculture meeting tourism. We visualise educational experiences for guests. We visualise farmers turning their land into a destination and opening their doors to share what they can do.
But it’s so much more than that. Agritourism is the symbiotic relationship between tourism and agriculture that combines the essential elements of both sectors to offer added socio-economic benefits.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The world, as we know, has changed exponentially in the past one year. For us in Fiji, the second wave of COVID-19 brought us more desolation than the first.
Despite everything, the Fijian Government remains committed to working with the industry to find solutions and ensure we are ready to welcome visitors back when it is safe and borders re-open.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In order to reach our economic aspiration – vaccination of the vast majority of the adult population is key. Scientific evidence suggests that mass vaccination is the only way out of this crisis and this is now also backed up by country experiences where high rates of vaccination have brought about some form of normalcy.
We have ramped up our vaccination drive with a national target of 80 percent of the target population fully vaccinated by 31 October 2021. We have secured enough vaccines through the support of our partners such as India, Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America and the COVAX facility for all eligible Fijians. As of 19 July, 401,404 Fijians or 68.4% of the target population is vaccinated and 80,894 Fijians or 13.8% are fully vaccinated.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Fiji’s strategy is simple, if we need to defeat Coronavirus – we need to vaccinate 80% of our adult population or 470,121 Fijians. No vaccination means no tourists and no economic recovery.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For many of us in the Pacific, Tourism offers important opportunities for recovery, providing a chance to build back better through the tourism value chain and investing in models that focus on the empowerment of local communities, inclusion, and the preservation of local natural and cultural resources and traditional activities.
What the pandemic has also done is triggered more interest from travellers demanding new experiences. Experiences that are authentic, safer and more unique.
That means – diversification, sustainability and resilience – three core pillars that need to be ingrained in all that we do moving forward.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Last Friday, Fiji announced the 2021-2022 National Budget. Through this budget, we aim to keep Fijians safe, foster sustainability and build resilience.
We are reforming taxes, easing regulatory burden, protecting jobs, encouraging entrepreneurship, and most importantly, investing in areas to enable us to be future fit.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Fijian Government is focused on promoting local produce in the tourism market, improving the livelihood of local farmers and lowering Fiji’s food import bill.
A 2018 study, ‘From Farm to the Tourist’s Table’ highlighted chefs at Fiji’s main hotels are key in creating the food experience for visitors and maintaining food safety standards. This food experience, without a doubt, can create extended pathways towards Agritourism where food enthusiasts can experience the journey from “farm to table”.
In addition, through programmes such as our very own national brand, the ‘Fijian Made-Buy Fijian’, we have created opportunities, especially for farmers, to get brand recognition locally and globally. Under this brand we have created the Fijian Organic label. This branding is for the high-end and niche Fijian produce and products.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The launch of the “Fijian Organic” in 2018 meant a beginning for local farmers who use organic farming methods. The organic market worldwide remains emergent as consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious and concerned about the environment – where people are willing to pay a higher price.
These emblems complement Fiji’s efforts to integrate more agricultural and organic produce into the food supply chain and employ Fijians along the value chain.. It is therefore important that the tourism sector remains focused on a sustainable recovery and builds a strong foundation for a resilient and food-secure industry for our days ahead.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Last year, we partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation to create awareness involving renowned chefs, such as Lance Seeto and farmers. Chef Seeto cooked using local ingredients, which the farmers appreciated. We will build on this partnership and continue to create synergies.
These examples are clear indications that Agritourism requires collaborative approach from the industry, farmers and development partners.
I would say it requires a regional approach, as tourism and agriculture are two critical sectors for all of us. The pandemic has definitely provided us an opportunity to look within and see how as a region we can develop ideas to support our industries. We can also learn from each other’s experience and instead of reinventing the wheel we can borrow and incorporate ideas into our own domestic policies.
Coming back to today’s webinar on Agritourism, focuses on networking, innovation, marketing, diversification and value adding. – It is about creating a vital link between primary sectors. It also presents hoteliers and farmers an opportunity to identify markets for locally-grown and organic produce for our biggest market – the tourism industry, in diversifying the visitor experience.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As a region, we need to work on principles of restarting on a stronger, fairer and more sustainable footing. We know that the Pacific’s path to recovery hinges on mass vaccination. We know this because we can see bigger more developed economies with greater vaccine access and rates already travelling intra-regionally.
With pent up travel demand, even when we reach our collective goal of being vaccinated, we will need to be competitive. We will need to go well and beyond what we traditionally offered and meet these demands while creating greater returns.
We have a plan to return our economy to pre-COVID growth rates, but we cannot do this alone – we need your support, we need you to play your part – and we need this to be a regional effort. We need you to be innovative, introduce new products into the market, employ Fijians and your Government will be there to support you.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Today’s webinar is a great way to share experiences, lessons, challenges and opportunities. And I thank Pacific Community, Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom), Pacific Tourism Organisation and the Pacific Agribusiness Research in Development Initiative – Phase 2 (PARDI2) for coordinating this webinar today on Agritourism.
I wish our speakers well in sharing their experiences and the true value of how organic branding can contribute towards boosting the development of the Agritourism sector.
Vinaka Vakalevu and Thank you.