INDIAN travellers spend around $12 million per year in Fiji, says Pranav Kapadia, the Tourism Fiji representative officer in Mumbai, India.

He said an Indian traveller spent around $4000 per year in Fiji excluding the airfares.

This means the Government is likely to earn around $12m from the 3000 Indian travellers that arrive in Fiji per year.

Mr Kapadia said the aim of the trade show was to increase the number of travellers to 10,000 in the next five years, which could rake in an average of $30m in revenue.

“We are basically a small market compared to other countries but we are very high earners and we prefer to stay in five-star hotels and not backpackers,” he said.

“An Indian couple could spend at least $6000 during their six nights stay in Fiji,” he added.

Mr Kapadia said the Tourism Fiji office in India had been working hard in promoting Fiji as a top holiday destinations.

He said the India Fiji trade show would make their work easier and would also benefit the nation in terms of income earned.

“We have been there in India for the past three years to promote Fiji to the Indian travellers.

“This show is an excellent initiative for most of us that come from India as we are getting the opportunity to interact with the about 40 Fijian partners in showcasing what Fiji has to offer,” Mr Kapadia said.

He also highlighted what attraction Fiji, as a destination, is likely to have for Indian travellers.

“Fiji is considered very exotic and expensive because it is quite far but the market will be there to stay and we are growing at an average of 20-25 per cent a year.

“We should in the next five years hit the 10,000 figure.”

Mr Kapadia said the next step for Tourism Fiji was to approach the customers directly.

“The next step we are going to tap now is going to the consumers, now we are educating the travel agents to sell Fiji then we will target the consumers,” he said.

“With the new brand about to be launched in the couple of months about the new images, video clips of Fiji Tourism, we are confident of achieving our target.

“The advantage of coming to Fiji is that we don’t need a visa, the hospitality of the people, food and language is not a barrier to us.

“I am confident the numbers will grow in years to come,” he said.