Continued confrontation between Fijian army chief and the Prime Minister will cost 50,000 jobs in the island nation's tourism industry, Fiji Visitors Bureau chief executive Viliame Gavoka said Tuesday.

 

According to The Fiji Times, a Suva-based daily newspaper, Gavoka said the stand-off has created a perception of Fiji as "no longer a safe destination for tourists."

 

Gavoka said the Government would run out of money just because the military frightened tourists.

 

Gavoka said overseas governments, such as in New Zealand, had rated Fiji as unsafe to visit because of the threats made by the military to the Government.

 

New Zealand government statistics show a record 109,006 tourists from New Zealand visited Fiji last year, a rise of 10 percent over 2004.

 

But New Zealand Flight Center, a flight booking agency, said the number of New Zealanders traveling to Fiji in October is down 13 percent on last year.

 

Gavoka said people who relied on the industry for their basic income would suffer the most.

 

He said the first to go would be the casuals, followed by part- timers if nothing improved and then reduced hours for permanent workers.

 

The chief executive of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association, Mereani Korovavala, said many hotels have no reservations until about April next year.

 

She said tourists would not risk coming to a country riddled with political instability.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)