18 Mar 2010

Tourism Fiji says western division spared by Cyclone Tomas

1:36 pm on 18 March 2010

Tourism Fiji says despite the impact of Cyclone Tomas, it is business as usual in country's western region.

It says the storm had little impact in the west of Viti Levu where much of the country's tourism infrastructure is located.

The CEO of Tourism Fiji, Josefa Tuamoto, says only five per cent of the resorts are in the northern division, with the remainder in the Mamanuca, the Yasawas and western Viti Levu being unaffected.

He says they have been fielding calls from travellers wanting to cancel bookings but there is no need.

"Some of them, some of the Kiwis who were planning to travel in June are now considering cancelling. We are saying you don't have to do that. As I have said 95 percent of the operations [are functioning]. And we are just trying to correct that perception in the market - that the whole of Fiji is devastated, which it's not."

Josefa Tuamoto, the CEO of Tourism Fiji