Picture this: you’re the chief executive, and you fly your senior leadership team to Fiji. Instead of another stale strategy session in the boardroom in Auckland, you run them through a Survivor-style challenge on a tropical island.

The winner? Your pick to succeed you.

Or maybe it’s not quite that cut-throat. Perhaps you’re the chief sales officer, rewarding your top performers after a record-breaking year.

Given Fiji’s proximity to New Zealand, it could be considered the ideal location for an out-of-team adventure with your staff. Three nights, perhaps two, or with the right flight times, maybe only overnight.

Australia is Fiji’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (Mice) industry’s biggest market, given its population and scale, followed by NZ.

The United States is considered a “developing market” in Fiji, with national carrier Fiji Airways opening up several direct flights between the two countries.

That’s also helped by a favourable foreign exchange rate between Fiji and the US – US$1 to FJ$2.26/NZ$1.67.

According to the country’s International Visitor Survey, visitors to Fiji in 2023 recorded total expenditure of FJ$3.22 billion. Of that, pre-paid expenditures made up FJ$1.48b and post-arrival spending totalled FJ$1.74b.

The Fiji Times reported last year the Asia Pacific Mice market was estimated to be worth more than US$250b in 2021.

Whether it’s golfing at the Shangri-La Yanuca Island or fish house building at the Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay, there is no shortage of options.

Teaming up

An incentive group participates in a Team Up Events activity. (Image: Supplied) 

There is also Team Up Events, which provides team development programmes in NZ and Fiji.

The NZ-owned business has been working in Fiji for several years on a fly-in, fly-out basis and, while initially delayed because of covid-19, set up a Fijian operation in 2023.

Managing director Stu Robertson told BusinessDesk Fiji’s Mice industry had become a lot more sophisticated post the pandemic.

Businesses were attracted to the idea of taking their team out of the usual “four walls of the office” and developing relationships beyond the office kitchen, he said.

While it would likely come at a high cost, Robertson said businesses were focused on return on investment for taking their teams away.

Robertson said groups visiting can vary in size, from a 10-person board, a 50-person sales team, through to a conference of 400 or 500 delegates.

Lead-in times also vary, he said, with some booking up to 18 months out and others a couple of months or even weeks.

Team Up offers team building, development and leadership experiences. That includes a range of games and events, including The Amazing Race, Village Traders, IQ Games, among others.

The business also brought on-site registration services to the country.

Getting around 

When you land at Nadi Airport, the last thing you want to be doing is ordering taxis or something similar for your teams.

Te Waka is a well-established provider of transfers, offering a range of services from single-person pick-ups to coaches.

The company, which before covid-19 was known as Pacific Destinations Fiji, also offers destination management for conferences and incentives.

If you’re going off the mainland or want to take the team on a cruise, there is South Sea Cruises.

The business has been cruising around the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands for over 25 years, offering transfers to popular resorts on the islands as well as charters and group bookings.

Could you imagine cruising to Malamala Beach Club with your team to decide on next year’s strategy?

Then there is Rose Holidays. Like Te Waka, it caters for transfers but also event management.

With sun, sea and streamlined logistics, Fiji might just be your next boardroom.

Riley Kennedy travelled to Fiji courtesy of Tourism Fiji.