Fiji to Fully Reopen to Tourists
Fiji will reopen its borders to fully vaccinated tourists starting today.
Fully vaccinated visitors will only need to obtain a rapid antigen test at an approved testing facility within 48 hours of arriving in the country. The move comes as Fiji recorded a 94.4% double-dose vaccination rates among adults, while the 7-day average number of cases has decreased to 6 cases.
Fiji’s tourism-dependent economy was one of the hardest hit economies globally. Before the pandemic, tourism contributed almost 40% of Fiji’s GDP—about USD $1.6 billion—and employed over 150,000 people. The strict enforcement of travel restrictions meant a 95.4% decline in tourist arrivals in 2021 and led to the closure of almost half of all tourism businesses. Fiji’s GDP shrank by 15.7% in 2020 and 5% in 2021, respectively. Two tropical cyclones further exacerbated the economic downturn causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to infrastructure.
Expect Fiji to begin a slow economic recovery on the assumption that tourism will increase significantly in 2022. The tourism sector will likely see a significant increase in demand in the medium-term, positively impacting incomes and business revenues. However, the economy is not expected to rebound to pre-COVID levels until 2025.
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