𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐅𝐢𝐣𝐢, 𝐆𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

𝐍𝐀𝐃𝐈, 𝟐𝟐 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 – The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Hon Viliame Gavoka, in opening the panel discussion Leadership Across the Pacific at the STK Business Fiji Conference this morning, called on Australian business leaders to bring their organisations’ events to Fiji. The panellists were Fiji Airways Chief Executive Officer Mr Paul Scurrah, Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Officer Dr Paresh Pant and Investment Fiji Chief Executive Officer Mr Kamal Chetty.

Hon Gavoka addressed Australian and Fijian business leaders and members of St Kilda Football Club, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Carl Dilena, at the Sofitel Fiji Resort and Spa on Denarau. The conference is the first STK Business event held in Fiji.

“I ask you to picture your own organisation here,” Hon Gavoka said, pointing to leadership retreats, incentive trips, board meetings and client events. Business travellers make up 1.6 per cent of visitors, and the Government wants that share to grow. “When you bring your team to Fiji, you support Fijian families,” he said.

Citing provisional Fiji Bureau of Statistics figures released last week, Hon Gavoka said 46,302 Australians visited Fiji in September, nearly one in every two visitors and an average of more than 1,500 arrivals a day. More than 345,000 Australians have visited since January.

The Ministry and St Kilda Football Club signed a three-year partnership in September 2025. In April, the Saints AFLW squad ran sessions at St Joseph’s Secondary School in Suva, visited Naevuevu village and trained with the Fijian Drua women’s team. This year the club has shared football with more than 1,300 Fijian schoolchildren.

Hon Gavoka said tourism is an estimated 40 per cent of Fiji’s economy, but most of that activity sits in two of the country’s fourteen provinces, Nadroga-Navosa and Ba. He pointed investors to the World Bank-financed Na Vualiku programme, which is building roads, airports, water and energy in Vanua Levu and Taveuni, with $20 million allocated this financial year. The Ministry is also working with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to connect Fijian farmers and producers with hotels and resorts, and the Government welcomes investment in sporting facilities.

“When you fly home on Friday, take back more than memories. Take back one new relationship and one practical opportunity,” he said.

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