At least 2 years needed to fulfill demand for more hotel rooms

As the tourism industry faces a shortage of rooms and need about 5,000 more, the Construction Industry Council says it will take at least another two years to meet the demand.

In an interview with fijivillage News, Council President, Gordon Jenkins says a lot of existing rooms are being refurbished, which makes the hotels more money but it does not keep another another set of people sleeping.

He says he has heard of very few extensions or increasing of hotel rooms and there are talks to build more but it would take two years for them to come on online if they started today.

Jenkins says this is because they have to go through a design and construction period and operations and then commissioning.

He adds there is a shortage of rooms and it has always been but it will take at least two years to meet the demand.