The President of the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association Dixon Seeto says tourism is the prime economic driver in Fiji.
Fiji Live reports Mr Seeto as saying at the same time, the global financial climate has created challenges in marketing tourism.
He says tourism generates substantial volumes of foreign exchange, around 415-million US dollars last year, but there's tough competition from destinations such as Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga and Tahiti to promote tourism internationally.