Fiji hotel figures

Deep down behind those Fiji hotel figures

By a staff writer

PI M’s article in April suggesting that Fiji’s hotel occu pancy figures leave something to be desired has caused a con troversy in Fiji. Opinion among hotel operators in May was divided as to whether PlM’s original April assessment of the occupancy figures was right or whether Mr. David Ragg’s May reassessment —that there was nothing to worry about—was nearer the mark.

The one hotel owner who showed us his figures had a room occupancy rate that averaged out over the whole of last year at 60 per cent; and a bed occupancy rate at 40 per cent.

This might be nearer the colony average than some other hotels will admit but what everyone was really trying to calculate from the figures was whether Fiji has too many hotels.

The short answer is that it probably has enough at the moment but may be straining at the seams again in three years when the pro jected number of tourists staying 24 hours or more is 105,000. (Projected 1968 figure, 69,000).

Hotels take up to two years to build and the whole thing therefore becomes a what-comes-first, chicken or-egg exercise. Those with doubts about the soundness of hotel invest ment in the colony should, perhaps, take heart from the current Trust Houses-Motels of Australia invest ment of £FI million in a Suva hotel.

This company says it has every faith that Fiji will have a great tourist future.

The problems

In 1967, Fiji had 13,000 more visitors than in 1966. Most months showed some increases but the greatest proportion of these 13,000 extra people came in Fiji’s traditional flush months, June-September in clusive and Christmas-January.

The result of this pattern is that hotels are over-busy in some months and tend to become hollow shells during others—including April and May this year, which were bad all over Fiji. This is the rub for all concerned.

The hotel owner’s viewpoint is obvious. It is hard to decide which is more disconcerting for the customer—to have to fight for service, one among hundreds of other guests; or to have to rattle around in the hush of a nearly empty hotel, among disconsolate reception clerks and wilting waiters.

One exception to the normal pattern of visitor arrivals in Fiji was the November 1967-end of March 1968 increase of from 50 per cent, to 70 per cent. It is thought in the travel trade in Fiji that this might be artificial and largely due to the threatened US tax on travel later in 1968.

Permanent exceptions to all Fiji hotel occupancy figures are what are called the transit hotels at Nadi air port. They can be full at any time.

With planes leaving and arriving at all hours of the day and night, and with passengers snatching a few hours sleep where they can, rooms in these hotels could have a 300 per cent, daily occupancy.

Some hotel owners in Fiji feel that the Nadi occupancy figures throw the Fiji Visitors Bureau statistics out and that they don’t, therefore, show the true position.

Overseas countries with an on and-off tourist season have tackled the same problems and Fiji might learn something from them. One way is to have high-season and low-season tariffs. Another is to really make hay in the season and then shut down for a few months. Half the hotels along the Mediterranean shut in the winter, the profits on the high season carrying them over this blank period.

Fewer hotels

This is counter to Fiji’s traditional way of running hotels but some modification of the idea might be possible.

Another idea, when looking into the future, might be to build fewer but bigger hotels. In Tahiti, a couple of years ago, the tourist authority calculated that no tourist hotel could be a viable proposition until it had 150-200 rooms to support it. This may be an exaggeration but, on international standards, some of Fiji’s hotel’s are woefully under roomed.

In 1968, 361 new hotel rooms will

be added to the number Fiji already has. They are in six establishments — four of them new hotels.

Of the new hotels, Suva’s Travelodge is the biggest. It will have 140 double rooms, each capable of becoming a family-room with ac commodation for one child in ad dition. The rooms will be luxuriously appointed air-conditioned, fully carpeted, private balcony and view.

The bathrooms have a bath as well as shower. Rooms are equipped with small refrigerators.

A very large swimming-pool is under construction.

The public rooms will include cocktail bar, lounge, dining-room, coffee shop, hairdressing and gift store. There will be a small area for dancing—according to the manager, the emphasis will not be on enter tainment but on good service and food. The quality and quantity of the up-to-date labour-saving equipment in the kitchen and two imported cater ing experts should go a long way to ensuring that.

Travelodge is owned by a partner ship of Trust Houses of UK and Motels of Australia. If the Suva hotel is half as good as the Trust House

resort hotels in Spain and Portuji it will be very good indeed.

Tradewinds Hotel, at Bay Islands, five or six miles out of Sun has been open for guests for thix months. It has 70 air-condition double rooms with private showv and toilets Nearly all of the roox have balconies and views over t water.

This hotel has a number of speo; features, not the least of whichi the aquatic nature of the enterpn The hotel—or a subsidiary—hi out boats of all descriptions and stretch of water along which hotel is built, with its small turesque off shore islands, is also favourite haunt of local lx enthusiasts.

Tradewinds also seems to be tempting what is almost round-t clock eating. People can wanden off the street and get a meal tici at midnight or later—which certainly unusual for Suva, Geneir it is snack-bar kind of food, w specials for lunch and dinner, it is popular with local people. T will probably see more local peo

Js hotel training Fiji's greatest need?

here in any one evening than in all he rest of Suva hotels put together.

This hotel started out with a mblic bar, but it was found that ifter this closed at 9 p.m. patrons nvaded the rest of the hotel in a loisy swarm and it therefore was ilosed.

The Isa Lei Hotel, at Lami, about our miles out of the city, has also ipened although work is still con inuing on the grounds. This hotel las only 46 rooms at present, in a letached semi-circular block. The lost spectacular part of the hotel is tie public rooms that are located in huge building shaped like a turtle.

The swimming pool is also turtle haped. Some local people refer to bis hotel as The Turtle, and not the sa Lei).

Night-club acts

The management intends to direct lot of its effort towards large üblic functions and also to snare verseas artists, especially those oing to or coming from night-club ngagements in Australia. It already as had success in this.

The other new hotel, to be opened bout August this year, will be The rateway, which literally is at the atrance to the Nadi airport gates. ; will have 58 rooms.

In addition, at Nadi, the Mocambo adding 28 new, first class rooms nd the Tanoa has already com leted 21 additional rooms.

Fiji, at the moment then, is well ipplied with good hotels —the best f them equal to most resort hotels broad. In addition, Fiji tariffs are ill low, the people despite what Dlitical pessimists might feel, look appy and are friendly; the climate good for most of the year; and e scenery is beautiful and real, not r nthetic and contrived.

One of Fiji’s disadvantages is its stance for potential sources of istomers, particularly Americans ilthough in the end this might turn at to be a godsend). The biggest itry on the debit side however, is adoubtedly in the matter of staff.

As more hotels come into opera- Dn trained staff is spread just that uch thinner. This situation is now It right down through every branch ; the hotel business but in no spartment more than in the tchen.

With occasional exceptions, the andard of hotel food in Fiji is >or—and no one realises it or has ven more time to trying to do mething about it than hotel owners managers themselves.

The basic trouble is probably that those who are cooking and serving it have no conception of what it should be like, A waiter on the Continent will know more about food than his customer; if his customer complains he will be understood.

If the customer complains in Fiji that the meat is tough and tasteless, the waiter is merely dumbfounded.

If he is a Fijian, he probably thinks that all meat comes that way; if he is Indian he may not eat that sort of meat, anyway.

Import chefs?

If the customer says that the sauce is curdled, the gravy lumpy, the grapefruit warm, the soup cold, the toast like a board or the lettuce wilted then sadness drips out of dark brown eyes but there is no comprehension.

Suggestions for improvement have included importing leading chefs from Europe, but this has its drawbacks temperamental Con tinentals could find it difficult to cope with and work with subordinate local staff.

A more practical idea might be to get somewhat less rarified chefs from Australia or New Zealand. Even a

good shearers’ cook would be better than some of the chefs now employed in Fiji hotels. Shearers are, in fact, fussy about their food.

Another idea would be to let out hotel restaurants to an overseas team. Years ago, one of the largest hotels in Johannesburg, S.A. did this with great success, hiring a team of Italians from chefs down to assistant waiters. A similar plan in Fiji would, however, come up against immigra tion restrictions.

In the end this particular problem will possibly have to be solved by the establishment of the long-delayed hotel school. Some time back the Fiji Government asked the UK Over seas Development Ministry to send an expert to advise on what should be done. The expert was Mr. Joseph Koscher who runs a hotel school in Strasbourg.

His report is now being awaited but rumour has it that what he re commends will cost far more than the government will be happy to pay.