Lautoka special administrator, Praveen Bala.
By JYOTI PRATIBHA
24 new businesses opened in Lautoka in the first quarter of this year, underscoring confidence in the Sugar City.
These businesses are generally retail shops ranging from boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants amongst others.
Lautoka special administrator, Praveen Bala, said they were working tirelessly to promote new business ventures and tourism in Lautoka.
Mr Bala said they have also noted an increase in the number of cruise ships coming to Lautoka, and to cater for demands of tourists, they have major plans in the pipeline.
New businesses
“From January to March, 24 new businesses opened in Lautoka which is a very encouraging trend,” he said.
“The Lautoka Chamber of Commerce and the Lautoka City Council has been working to promote Lautoka to business houses,” Mr Bala said.
He said that the growing tourist numbers in Lautoka has played a role in businesses opening their branches and new shops in Lautoka.
Sugar City to Tourist City
Mr Bala said they noted that many tourists preferred to walk from the wharf to the city.
To capitalise on this, new pathway would be constructed to provide easy access to tourists, which would also lead to a handicraft centre.
“While we do have a handicraft centre in the market, it is not sufficient to cater for the demands of tourists. Therefore, plans are to construct a proper handicraft centre,” he said.
“This would provide Fijians a good place to sell their wares to tourists and also provide tourists the opportunity to shop in a well organised handicraft centre.”
Hotel plans
Mr Bala has applauded the plans for a new hotel to be constructed in Lautoka.
He said while the details of the new construction were not readily available to him, he was aware that a permit had been given for hotel construction near Shirley Park.