Nearly 200 tourism partners in Fiji including hotels and resorts, tour operators, attractions, restaurants and more have undertaken a comprehensive training program in adopting the destination’s new COVID-safe protocols ahead of the future border reopening.
The ‘Care Fiji Commitment’ from Tourism Fiji has been launched as a multi-pronged and destination-wide commitment and risk management strategy to ensure the safety of visitors and locals when international borders are reopened. The Pacific nation has successfully managed and eradicated COVID-19 within its islands, having had no community transmission since the first half of 2020.
Developed jointly by Fiji’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services, a COVID-19 Risk Mitigation Taskforce, the Fijian Government and tourism industry stakeholders, the strategy has been designed based on World Health Organisation guidelines to ensure risk management strategies are fluid and widely practiced.
Key pillars of the strategy include a new careFIJI smartphone app which utilised non-tracking Bluetooth technology to capture traveller details and help identify any potential COVID risks to other guests, workers or the wider community. The app operates under a strict privacy preserving framework to ensure identification information doesn’t reach unauthorised parties.
Further, each tourism business will take on a designated Wellness Ambassador, who will be on hand to answer any COVID-19 related questions or concerns raised by any visitor. Ambassadors are trained to uphold hygiene and distancing protocols and ensure compliance.
Fiji is also asking visitors to adopt a flexible approach to travel arrangements by postponing any visit if they or any member of their party are feeling unwell and communicating with Wellness Ambassadors through the careFIJI app.
As an extra layer of protection, Fiji has also set up a variety of local testing facilities, WHO approved isolation facilities, drop-in centres for guests who feel unwell after their arrival, a dedicated COVID-19 phone number and clear procedures in place for suspected cases.
Tourism Fiji Acting CEO, Robert Thompson, said the Care Fiji Commitment was the destination’s way of assuring travellers that health and safety is the number one priority.
“We have been working together as one across the tourism and health industries to fight COVID-19 and adapt to a new normal to get us ready for when we can welcome international travellers again,” Thompson said. More information on the Care Fiji Commitment can be found by CLICKING HERE.