Tourism Fiji has apologised for posting a promotional video encouraging visitors to talk like a local after it mistakenly translated toilet to the indigenous word for a church.
The social media post, which has since been deleted, prompted outrage after the words Vale ni Lotu were used to mean toilet.
Many locals were furious about the error including Leader of the Opposition Ro Teimumu Kepa who said the Vale ni Lotu is a sacred location of belief and worship for indigenous Fijians and this incident ridicules its sanctity.
"The taxpayers of Fiji give Tourism Fiji $43.5 million a year in grants for Marketing and Operating expenses and if this is a sample of what we can expect them to produce using our taxpayer dollars then perhaps we should review their allocation in this year's budget," she said.
In a statement Tourism Fiji said the mistake was due to a mismatch of graphic design and failure of its quality assurance process.
It said it regrets any offense caused and it is reviewing internal processes to ensure it doesn't happen again.
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