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SOFTA held its Annual General Meeting on 5th of September 2009. New Office bearers are listed on the Executive Listing page within the web-site.
PRSIDENTS REPORT TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL IS DETAILED BELOW
SOFTA PRESIDENTS PRESIDENTS REPORT - ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2009
The 2008/2009 year continued to be extremely challenging for the tourism industry and the county as well. Escalating fuel costs in 2008 and the worldwide downturn in the economy affected the Industry with high costs and low yields. In early 2009 Fiji had one of the worst flooding after a long period of torrential rain. The towns of Nadi and Ba were the worst affected. We all know of the disaster and the massive damages to the infrastructure and to the township of Nadi. More recently the Swine Flu threatens the visitor arrivals into Fiji.
SOFTA continued to engage in industry committees to assist and provide necessary support in planning strategies for the industry.
I record the following activities for SOFTA for the 2008/2009 period.
1. FITHA/Industry Marketing Sub-Committee
Tony Whitton represents SOFTA on the above sub-committee and I thank him for that. The Australian and New Zealand campaign with Tourism Fiji was a direct result of that and we managed to slowly increase our arrival form these markets. Through his approach we managed to protect our rates and members were not subjected to unreasonable request from wholesalers.
2. 2009 Floods
SOFTA was in close contact with the Industry and Tourism Fiji in communicating information to our suppliers overseas. Members of SOFTA especially transport/Cruise operators provided services in adverse conditions to Tourists. In most cases operators worked as a team to provide services despite being competitors in business. However there is a need for a good industry disaster management plan as we did see major setbacks in January.
3. Denarau Island and Airport
Lynne Carlos represented SOFTA on the airports committee while Brad Rutherford and Kit Nixon assisted with issues at Denarau Island. Issues in relation to the airports are ongoing and our regular intervention is needed to ensure procedures are fair and in compliance with regulations. These issues at Denarau especially the marina need SOFTAs involvement and our representatives continue to discuss our concerns.
4. Nadi Chamber
SOFTA has engaged with the Nadi Chamber of Commerce to assist with the re-launch of Nadi Town (July) and the committee for Destination Nadi. There are reports of daylight robberies and increased presence of touts in the Town.
5. Meetings
We had very minimal meetings and these were held when issues had to be discussed. In most cases the Executives corresponded through emails to reach decisions.
6. Industry Representation
i) James Sowane represents SOFTA on the board of Tourism Fiji
ii) Damend Gounder is the Planning Chairman of the 2009 Tourism Forum
iii) Tony Whitton was the Chairperson for the 2008 Tourism Forum
7. 2008/09 Executives
President Damend Grounder
Vice President Fantasha Lockington
Treasurer Sada Prasad
Committee Members Catherine Kumar, Lynne Carlos, Tony Whitton, Kit Nixon, Brad Rutherford, Lorraine Evans, Debra Sadranu
Secretary Colette Samson
I wish to thank all the executives for their support and cooperation.
Conclusion
The 2008/2009 period was difficult from all aspects. We continue to operate in the challenging times with a slow worldwide economic recovery. The H1N1 Flu, domestic issues and competition from other destinations.
SOFTA will need to continue strengthening its position within the industry and to provide that support and confort to our members. We can only do this with an active membership all the time and not only during crisis.
DAMEND GOUNDER
PRESIDENT
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