By ROSI DOVIVERATA
The impact of Cyclone Evan in December has also hit Hnuary figures, with some resorts still clsoed for repairs.
Visitor arrivals for January 2013 recorded a decrease of 7.9 per cent compared to the same time last year.
These are the latest figures released by the Fiji Bureau of Statistics.
Dixon Seeto, president of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association said the January decrease could be directly attributed to the cyclone of December 18 last year.
The bureau recorded an increase in visitor arrivals from South Korea, Japan and the United States of America.
Though the figures are not significant when compared to tourist arrivals from Australia, the increase looks promising.
Tourists arriving on cruise ships also doubled in numbers compared to the same time last year.
Mr Seeto said that visitors arriving on cruise ships bring significant business to local retail operators.
And more. “They create an interest in the destination and so some of them return again,” he said.