Tour operators meet new Tourism Fiji’s chief

Tourist operators got a chance to meet with Tourism Fiji’s new acting chief executive officer Michael Meade last Friday in Nadi.

Mr Meade is no stranger to Fiji, having visited the country many times with his last visit being 10 years ago.

Speaking to The Fiji Times, Mr Meade said while he had noticed significant infrastructure development ù the country’s biggest tourist drawcard, its people, are still the same.

“When I was here last, there were only two hotels on Denarau Island and look at how that’s changed since. However, one thing that has not changed is the warmth and genuine friendliness of the Fijian people. Fiji people stand out as the most engaging and hospitable in the world with the distinct advantage of being able to communicate in English ù something a lot of industries in the Asia-Pacific region don’t have,” he said.

Attorney-General and Minister for Tourism Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said Mr Meade brought with him over 30 years of knowledge and experience to Tourism Fiji and he was highly regarded as “one of Asia Pacific’s more successful tourism executives.”

Mr Meade has extensive experience in both the hospitality and aviation industries having held senior management and marketing roles at the InterContinental Group, Sheraton, Southern Pacific Hotels Corporation, Rendezvous Hospitality Group, Jin Jiang Hotels China and British Airways.