Any drop in the number of Kiwis travelling to Fiji may be short-lived.

A report in New Zealand’s Dominion Post recently says that while more Australians may visit New Zealand because of the political turmoil in Fiji and Thailand, tourism groups say, any drop in the number of Kiwis travelling to Fiji may be short-lived, with the NZ Government ruling out banning New Zealanders from visiting Fiji, saying to do so would make it no better than Fiji's military administration.

However, Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully says New Zealanders should think twice about visiting the country, with officially, the ministry saying, "There is some risk to your security in Fiji and we advise caution." It also says there is a "high risk" to security in Thailand and advises against all tourist and non-essential travel to Bangkok and some nearby provinces.

Travel agents in New Zealand say there are no reports of people cancelling trips to Fiji and the pattern has been for Kiwi and Australian tourism to Fiji to drop off for a few weeks or months after past coups but recover fairly quickly.

NZ Travel Agents Association chief executive Paul Yeo said Kiwis were "a bit used to this" in Fiji, adding, "Fiji has had a lot of coups and they have been [largely] bloodless." The action has been in Suva, rather than in tourist areas, which have been unaffected in the past.

Tourism Fiji CEO Jo Tuamoto said yesterday that it was "business as usual".