1. Could you begin by introducing Kimaya Group and its family of tourism and travel businesses?
Kimaya Group was formed after 20 to 25 years of running Tour Managers Fiji Limited, an inbound tour operator. After around 10 to 15 years in the business, we expanded into resort operations and management, acquiring our first resort.
We subsequently expanded to three resorts, alongside our inbound tour operation and Paradise Brides, a wedding and event management company. Today, we have more than 300 staff, approximately 200 rooms across our three resorts, and our inbound business handles close to 50,000 people a year.
2. How does the group contribute to Fiji’s tourism sector and the wider economy?
We contribute to the national economy through tourism arrivals into Fiji and the spending generated through package holidays, hotel stays and excursions, while also providing employment opportunities for people across Fiji.
One unique aspect of our group is that our resort employees and staff teams are actually from the neighboring villages. That drives a lot of revenue into the local economy and helps support the livelihoods of people in those communities.
3. Kimaya Group is well established in destination management and inbound travel. Can you tell us about the breadth of its services and the vision that has driven its growth?
The vision that has driven our growth has always been about providing better services and creating joyful memories for our guests.
We have had a strategic approach of doing something bigger every five years. After our first five years, we entered the large coach operation market. On our second five-year anniversary, we entered resort operations and management, followed by another resort and further expansion of our tourism transportation fleet.
Just recently, we introduced electric coaches to the fleet, together with a luxury diesel coach for our upmarket and luxury customers.
While we have been doing that, we have not forgotten our responsibility to society and the community.
That led to the Kimaya Brighter Minds Trust, a program funded through the company, with guests also contributing and the company matching those contributions dollar for dollar. The program focuses on cognitive development for children between five and 15 years old.
Since its launch, we have trained hundreds of teachers and currently have around 3,000 students from schools around the country going through the program.
4. What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in strengthening Fiji’s appeal and connectivity to international source markets?
One major opportunity is Australia, which is only four or five hours away. While there are economic ups and downs, Australia has always been a very strong economy, so there are still significant opportunities to strengthen connectivity between Australia and Fiji.
There are also opportunities in Asia, particularly through Singapore, China and Japan. China, in particular, could continue to provide strong growth. However, we should focus on attracting the right market segments, particularly the upper-class and luxury market.
Then, of course, there is the United States. California is probably one of the key places for Fiji Airways to be, with potential to increase flights.
Fiji is a hub for the South Pacific, so there is an opportunity to provide greater connectivity and develop more codeshare and airline partnerships.
People sometimes perceive Fiji as being isolated, but Los Angeles and San Francisco are connected to Fiji through non-stop services, and the journey is not as far as people might think.
Fiji Airways provides a world-class service, and the A350 is an excellent aircraft for these routes. Once you get into the cabin, it is a very different experience from many other commercial airlines.
5. Travel expectations have shifted significantly, with growing demand for authenticity, culture and personalized experiences. How is the group adapting?
Technology is obviously an important part of the future, but one thing I have always cherished, and that we continue to work on, is human interaction with our guests.
We do not want everything to become automated. The technology can be in the back of the house, but at the front, it is the people.
We want guests to be able to speak to someone rather than simply navigating an automated telephone system. Our itineraries also include interaction with Fijian culture, and those experiences are authentic.
We are currently working with villages to develop sightseeing and excursion experiences that have not traditionally been on the menu in Fiji.
Our resorts are people-centric, including both our guests and our staff. Culture and traditions are part of the way of life.
That is what Fiji offers: hospitality that comes from the heart, passion and an authentic experience.
Sustainability is also important. When we work with local communities, we want development to be sustainable and to respect the environment around them.
A large percentage of visitors to our resorts are repeat guests, not only from Australia and New Zealand, but also from the United States and Europe. This gives us a strong platform to promote authenticity through our services, décor, food and entertainment.
6. Fiji is positioning itself as a regional hub for leisure, weddings and MICE travel. What competitive advantages does it offer, and what improvements are still needed?
When you talk about MICE and weddings, these are specialized areas. Not every hotel operates in the MICE market, and different operators have different areas of expertise.
We have significant experience in weddings, while the MICE market has its own requirements and specialists. As an inbound tour operator and event operator, however, we are also involved in this segment.
Fiji has developed considerably over the past 10 to 15 years. The facilities we have today are ready to compete with destinations such as Australia and even Hawaii.
There are challenges, particularly around capacity. If you want to organize a 5,000-person event in Fiji, it can be difficult because there may not be one or two resorts capable of accommodating everyone in a single location.
However, Fiji does have facilities capable of hosting large groups, and events such as the World Hindi Language Conference, with more than 1,500 delegates, demonstrate what is possible. There are also larger events of around 3,000 people being considered.
Fiji can be an effective hub because groups can connect from Asia, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
7. Local communities, culture and people are central to the Fijian experience. How does the group support local employment, training and partnerships?
One example is our partnership with the Fijian Teachers Association. They developed a resort and were looking for an operator, and we have been operating it for the past six or seven years. We helped turn the resort from a loss-making operation into a profitable one while extending employment opportunities to people in the surrounding communities.
Three years ago, Fiji experienced labour shortages, partly because many people were moving to Australia and New Zealand. We looked at how we could engage people locally.
For example, we looked at the women in the villages. Many of them were available between around 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., after their children had gone to school. We created an opportunity for them to work in housekeeping and room cleaning during those hours.
Rather than bringing people from distant areas and providing transport for them, we created employment opportunities directly within the communities where people live.
We also operate day tours that visit village attractions and communities, giving our guests opportunities to interact with local people.
That community interaction is part of the charm and a unique selling point of the group.
8. How is the group using technology, data and digital tools to improve bookings, efficiency and the customer experience?
Two or three years ago, we recruited a business transformation manager specializing in technology. We are now migrating much of our back office to new digital systems.
Around 60% of our bookings come through our own online platforms, while we also have significant involvement from online travel agencies.
Our tour business has had a reservation system for around 20 years, which we continue to enhance. We have also introduced tools such as live QR codes for customer surveys.
For example, guests can scan a QR code at a resort and immediately provide feedback, whether positive or negative. That allows us to identify issues quickly and fix them in real time.
We continue to invest in technology, and we have seen positive results through improvements in customer feedback and online reviews.
Technology plays a major role, but the important thing is to use it effectively and in real time so that the customer experience continues to improve.
9. Sustainability is increasingly important to travelers and the industry. What steps is the group taking to protect Fiji’s natural environment and support communities?
We have always been strong supporters of protecting and enhancing the natural environment.
We work with local communities to develop excursions that create value for them while respecting the environment. For example, we have a program on the Coral Coast where guests participate in mangrove planting as part of a tour.
Before COVID-19, we also had a program for Japanese visitors in which each arriving guest was taken to a nearby village to plant a sandalwood tree. We eventually handed the resulting plantation, with more than 1,000 trees, to the village to look after.
We have also entered the electric vehicle market. We have introduced electric vehicles and large electric coaches, with additional vehicles expected in the future.
The main challenge in Fiji is charging infrastructure. The charging stations are difficult and expensive to develop, but we are continuing to invest in this area.
10. As Chairman of the Fiji Development Bank, how does the bank support entrepreneurship, investment and Fiji’s economic development?
The bank's mandate is to support economic growth through MSMEs and SMEs, agricultural projects and, increasingly, green energy.
We work with segments of the community that commercial banks may not always serve, including start-ups, farmers and fishermen. These may be considered higher-risk customers by commercial banks, but supporting them is precisely part of our mandate.
The bank has also expanded into housing loans to help young people afford and own homes. We work with government assistance, including interest subsidies for certain types of loans, and align our activities with the National Development Plan.
There are also significant opportunities outside Fiji’s main centres. We can identify projects and opportunities in the outer islands and rural areas and support the development of those communities.
11. Looking ahead, what is your vision for Kimaya Group and the Fiji Development Bank over the next five to ten years? And what message would you like to share with Los Angeles Times readers about Fiji?
For Kimaya Group, our vision is to expand further into accommodation and the wedding market. We are currently working on a project that we hope to start in the new year.
We are also looking at expanding the Tour Managers brand into other sectors, including shipping and cruising, while creating more employment opportunities.
The only way to create more opportunities for people is to expand the business.
Another key priority is making the group technologically smarter. To achieve that, we need good people and continued investment in technology.
For the Fiji Development Bank, one of our key focuses is keeping the bank within reach of people who want to develop their businesses. That means ensuring that competitive interest rates are available and developing revenue streams that can help reduce the cost of funds.
We also want to become more involved in green energy and maritime projects and identify opportunities in Fiji's outer islands and rural areas.
For Los Angeles Times readers, Fiji is ready for people from the United States, and particularly for people from California.
They have a direct flight, good-quality aircraft, good-quality hotels and a world that is totally different from what an ordinary American sees every day.
