Viliame Gavoka
Deputy Prime Minister. Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation. SODELPA's kingmaker in 2022. One million visitors. $2.54 billion. A profile of the coalition's most senior SODELPA figure.
Gavoka
Minister for Tourism & Civil Aviation
Viliame Gavoka spent over three decades in Fiji's tourism industry, including as Chief Executive of the Fiji Visitors Bureau, before entering politics in 2014. He led SODELPA into the 2022 election, winning three seats and becoming the kingmaker that put the Rabuka coalition into government. He has served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation since December 2022.
Under his tenure Fiji's tourism sector reached one million total arrivals in 2024 for the first time, generating approximately FJD 2.54 billion (Fiji Bureau of Statistics). The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation received $93 million in the 2025–2026 National Budget, with Tourism Fiji allocated $48 million. The ministry's stated target is a $4 billion industry with 1.25 million visitors by 2027.
Gavoka holds his position because SODELPA's three seats put the coalition over the line in 2022. The party barely cleared the five per cent threshold that time. SODELPA's viability heading into the next election is the structural question beneath his ministerial tenure. The tourism numbers are the strongest part of his record — whether growth spreads beyond Ba and Nadroga/Navosa is the test.
Viliame Rogoibulu Gavoka, known as Bill, is a Fijian politician and Deputy Prime Minister. He is the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation in the coalition government of Sitiveni Rabuka, and a member of SODELPA. He has been a member of Parliament since 2014. He spent over three decades in Fiji's tourism industry before entering politics, and brings direct sector experience to the portfolio he now holds.
Gavoka spent over three decades in Fiji's tourism industry, including as Chief Executive of the Fiji Visitors Bureau. In 2009 the Bainimarama government removed him as its Chairman. He joined SODELPA, entering Parliament in 2014 with 3,690 votes and re-elected in 2018 with 3,536. In November 2020 he defeated Sitiveni Rabuka in the SODELPA leadership contest.
SODELPA won only three seats in 2022 with 11.06 per cent of the vote, but those seats were decisive. The party's governing board voted 16 to 14 to support the People's Alliance and NFP over FijiFirst, ending Bainimarama's sixteen-year hold on government. Gavoka was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation on 24 December 2022. When Rabuka dismissed Aseri Radrodro as Education Minister in January 2024, threatening coalition stability, Gavoka briefly held the portfolio until Radrodro was reinstated and elected SODELPA leader in April 2024.
| Party | SODELPA (Social Democratic Liberal Party) |
| Party Leadership | Former SODELPA leader, November 2020 to December 2022 |
| 2014 Votes | 3,690 |
| 2018 Votes | 3,536 |
| 2022 Party Result | 3 seats, 11.06% of vote — kingmaker |
| Core Positions | iTaukei land rights, revival of the Great Council of Chiefs (abolished by Bainimarama in 2012), indigenous institutional restoration |
| Economic Approach | Tourism-led growth; private sector emphasis over government subsidy |
| Notable Connection | Son-in-law is Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, former Attorney-General and Finance Minister under Bainimarama; no longer in parliament |
The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation was allocated $93 million in the 2025–2026 National Budget. Of that, Tourism Fiji received $48 million, an increase on the $44 million allocated in 2024–2025 (FHTA statement, June 2025; Fiji Times). The ministry's stated target is to grow Fiji's tourism sector to a $4 billion industry with 1.25 million visitors by 2027.
Gavoka has reported 177 active tourism investment projects valued at $5.8 billion. Fiji Airways flies to 25 destinations, carrying over two million passengers. Tourism remains geographically concentrated: over 70 per cent of visitor days are in Ba and Nadroga/Navosa provinces, while Vanua Levu receives less than four per cent. Expanding tourism across all 14 provinces is a stated ministry priority for 2025–2026.
Investment pipeline figures ($5.8 billion, 177 projects) are sourced from Gavoka's ministerial statements in Parliament. FPR has not independently verified the project valuations.
Under Gavoka's tenure the sector has recorded consistent growth. Visitor arrivals reached 929,740 in 2023, a 46.1 per cent increase on 2022. In 2024 Fiji passed one million total arrivals (air and cruise) for the first time, generating approximately FJD 2.54 billion in tourism earnings for the year (Fiji Bureau of Statistics, Annual Tourism Earnings 2024).
The ministry launched a Tourism Micro and Small Enterprise Fund to support community operators, cultural performers, and homestays. The fund continued into 2025–2026. In October 2025 Gavoka oversaw new appointments at Tourism Fiji: Ilisaveci Matatolu as Board Chairperson and Dr Paresh Pant as Chief Executive Officer.
In January 2024, FICAC received a complaint alleging Gavoka abused his office by authorising a FJD $3 million Fiji Airways charter to Israel in September 2023, knowing the charterers could not cover the cost, and that he offered to use Tourism Fiji's marketing budget to fill the shortfall. FICAC confirmed it opened an investigation. As of October 2025, Fiji Airways had filed a civil case against the charterers for FJD $3,163,013.70, with hearings continuing into 2026. No charges against Gavoka personally have been confirmed.
His son-in-law is Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, the former Attorney-General and Finance Minister under Bainimarama. Sayed-Khaiyum is no longer in parliament. The relationship is noted here as context, not as an allegation.
Gavoka holds his position because SODELPA's three seats put the coalition over the line in 2022. The party barely cleared the five per cent threshold that time, with internal splits and a reduced vote. SODELPA's viability heading into the next election is the structural question beneath his ministerial tenure.
The tourism numbers are the strongest part of his record. Whether growth spreads beyond Ba and Nadroga/Navosa, whether the $4 billion target holds, and whether the 2024 anti-corruption complaint surfaces further are the things to watch.
⚠ FPR welcomes corrections: editor@fijipoliticalreview.com
