Tourism Fiji Innovating Through Digital Channels to Engage the Market Amid COVID-19

COVID-19 has brought vast and unprecedented disruptions to the travel industry, and in response to it Tourism Fiji has adopted new digital approaches to help partners navigate this rapidly changing landscape.

Tourism Fiji launched a series of destination webinar programs throughout March 2020 with support from twenty-two Fijian tourism industry partners. The twenty-three webinars have been successfully conducted to over 300 China travel agent partners. The webinars received over 8,000 play back views as well as over 15 million media impressions (equal to about FJD$800,000 advertising equivalent value).

Tourism Fiji chief executive officer, Matthew Stoeckel, said “the webinars are an effective way to build the Chinese trade partners’ destination knowledge on Fiji, and help our trade partners to be prepared for the recovery of market once travel restrictions start to ease”.

“It’s important that we continue to stay engaged with our partners. Our team in China has done a great job of this through adopting innovative and efficient ways for engagement and we are thrilled will the results of our webinar series in China.” he said.

Tourism Fiji, was the first island destination to adopt a digital approach for engaging Agents in China, and its innovation has been well received by its trade partners.

China Weilan International Travel general manager, Adan Zeng, said “even though demand for international travel is currently on hold and the timing of the recovery is still uncertain, we encourage our product managers and frontier sales team to upgrade their knowledge on destinations. Tourism Fiji has been one of the most active national tourist offices in the market to provide their leadership and help us overcome the challenges. We appreciate Tourism Fiji has led Fijian industry partners to conduct those webinars for us. We have seen the huge benefits for our team and we thank Tourism Fiji China team’s professionalism, dedication and commitment throughout those challenging times.

Last year, Tourism Fiji became the first island destination to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Weibo and Ctrip to accelerate the existing marketing activities of the organisation. The strategic partnership has been reinforced throughout these challenging times as Fiji was only island destination selected to participate in their live streaming programs amid Covid-19.

Tourism Fiji in partnership with Ctrip and Weibo respectively launched a live streaming program with a famous reality host and travel influencers to introduce appealing experience of their Fiji trip as well as promote Fiji to armchair travellers. The Fiji’s live streaming partnership welcomed over 550,000 views, over 1.8 million engagement and over 2.5 million impressions to name just a few.

Tourism Fiji Regional Manager in Greater China Vincent Zheng said, “The current epidemic has caused a pause for Chinese travel and holiday plans. However, we are committed to keeping Fiji front of mind for armchair travellers by using live streaming as a new digital approach to engage with them and inspire them to plan a trip to Fiji once the time is right.”

Chief Editor of Sina and Weibo Travel, Brenda Yang said, “Fiji offers an unforgettable and exciting Fijian experience and it’s on the rise among island destinations in the market. Chinese domestic tourism industry is in recovery now and we believe the next step will be international travel for China market. Fiji has such a big potential in China market. After Covid-19, we firmly believe even more Chinese travellers would be interested in a Fiji trip as Fiji can offer a lifetime experience with welcoming people, spectacular nature, unique culture and traditions as well as its range of adventure activities. Most importantly, everyone would dream to be a Bulanaire now.”

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About Us: Tourism Fiji is the destination marketing organizational arm of the Fijian government agency responsible for marketing Fiji as the ideal destination for leisure travel globally. Tourism Fiji has established a presence in nine key markets around the globe, and its activities include advertising, public relations, media initiatives, trade shows, and programs for the tourism industry and consumer promotions to better showcase Fiji.

For more information please contact:

Ellen Stolz

Tourism Fiji

Communications Coordinator

Mobile: + (679) 777 7912

Phone: + (679) 672 1721

Email: estolz@tourismfiji.com.fj

Fiona Chen

Tourism Fiji

Public Relations Manager, Greater China

Mobile: (86) 159 0219 1258

Email: prchina@tourismfiji.com.fj