The ongoing focus on tourism and agriculture continues to gain traction as Investment Fiji explores opportunities to grow the relevance of rural tourism, particularly through agro and regenerative tourism.

Investment Fiji Chief Executive Kamal Chetty highlighted this while stressing the importance of integrating rural communities, bringing tourism to rural areas and creating income opportunities.

He says there is a need for more partnerships to ensure that investments reach the rural areas and that they are the direct beneficiaries.

“There is also a big market in the rural tourism setting, where we have agritourism as part of that sector, which is a big sector. And I’m just wondering where that has been taken in your packages for investment.”

Chetty states that agritourism has the potential to bridge the gap between production and market, benefiting smallholder farmers.

He adds that it will also ensure that the economic advantages of tourism and agriculture are more evenly distributed.

“We ensure that when we talk about agriculture projects, it includes smallholder farmers and how they can upgrade them. So the conversation is also with them to try to see if they can get the project out in the rural areas. It’s part of our strategy.”

Chetty also highlighted the need for a more coordinated approach between organizations and sectors to maximize the impact of investments.