Tourism In
Fiji: Some Economic and Social Problems by R.C.G. Varley.
University of Wales Press. ₤(US$7.40).

This study is packed with
countless tables to delight a statistician. After examining the
role of tourism in developing countries around the world, Varley
concentrates on the problems that bedevil the Fiji in the hotel
and airline sectors.

Tourism does not play as
important a role in Fiji as in regions like the Caribbean, and its
revenues are usually inferior to those of the sugar crop., thanks
largely to the high prices being paid for sugar on world markets.
In the mid-1970s, Fiji’s popularity as a Pacific resort was
declining and the Fiji Hotels Association claimed that most of its
member hotels ran at a

loss
outside the peak season. Restaurants were used more by locals than
visitors. Among the food problems are the shortage of high-quality
meat, and the local preference for tinned fish, which appears to
discourage development of the fresh-fish market. Over 50% of fruit
and vegetables is still imported. Many hotels find it more
convenient to serve tinned pineapple!

Government
employment policy seeks to increase participation of the Fijian
ethnic group and the tourist industry does appear to employ a
significantly higher proportion of Fijians than do other sectors.
But at resort hotels near Nandi airport, the dreamed of Pacific
paradise may sought in vain, while the tourists are often cocooned
in hotels where management attempts to supply an ersatz of the
desired product. The staged authenticity is more like a Rodgers
and Hammerstein show, Varley writes. The visitors come

mainly
from Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, in that order,
though the US

formerly
held second place. Air fares in the South Pacific are higher per
passenger-km. than in many other tourist regions and are
particularly costly to Nandi from Tokyo and Honolulu.

North
American carriers are less keen to sell this destination as a
competitor with Hawaii. In general, the airlines make little
profit on tourist promotion in Fiji, so it needs to be sponsored
primarily by government and the hotels. A basic problem to be
solved – by no means peculiar to this sector – is the clash of
interests between national objectives and those of private
investors.

Apart
from spelling Nandi three different ways on one page, this is a
responsible, thorough and well-presented study of the problems
concerned.

-HUSEIN ROFÉ