The Melrose Hotel in Sigatoka Town has officially opened as a commercial hotel and hospitality training facility, giving Pacific Polytech students the opportunity to gain practical experience in a real workplace.

Students will receive supervised training in key areas including front office operations, food preparation and customer service.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka, officially opened the facility, describing it as an important investment in preparing skilled and work-ready Fijians for the tourism sector.

Gavoka says practical training is increasingly important as Fiji faces workforce shortages, partly due to skilled workers taking up employment opportunities overseas.

He says the focus should be on training more people and improving the skills pipeline to meet the industry’s growing demand.

The development comes as Fiji’s tourism sector continues to expand, with 986,367 visitor arrivals and $2.81 billion in tourism earnings recorded in 2025.

The training hotel is expected to help bridge the gap between classroom learning and employment by giving students hands-on experience and preparing them for careers in the tourism industry.