Fiji is predicting further increases in tourist arrivals this year after a record breaking 2004.
Latest figures released by the Fiji Visitors Bureau show that last year the country welcomed more than half a million tourists for the first time, an all time record.
The actual figure was 507-thousand with earnings from tourism growing to almost 440-million US dollars.
The star performer was the New Zealand market with 103-thousand tourists arriving, an increase of 37-percent over the figure for 2003.
Much of the growth from New Zealand has been attributed to entry of the budget airlines, Virgin Blue and Freedom Air.
