NEWLY-APPOINTED Tourism Fiji chief executive officer, Rick Hamilton said his ultimate aim was to entice one million visitors to Fiji during his term at the helm of the national tourist centre.
The former Flight Centre executive said based on his experience and numerous visits over the past few years, getting one million people to visit the country annually would be boosted with Tourism Fiji's new branding campaign — Fiji, where happiness finds you — and the genuine warmth and friendliness of the Fijian people.
"It's absolutely possible and I think the new branding is well thought out and it perfectly reflects Fiji and it is Fiji. I think that, with the new initiatives in place, retaining and growing our core markets in Australia and New Zealand and developing emerging markets like the United States, China, Hong Kong, Korea and the United Kingdom should see our numbers grow to the million mark and beyond in a few years," he said.
Mr Hamilton revealed that his immediate plans were to consolidate the work being done by the Tourism Fiji board to ensure that the new branding and marketing campaigns work effectively towards increasing visitor numbers to the country.
Tourism Fiji chairman and managing director and chief executive officer at Air Pacific, David Pflieger said Mr Hamilton's appointment to the CEO role was an asset to tourism and the country.
"On behalf of Tourism Fiji, we welcome Rick Hamilton on board, he's going to be a fantastic asset to tourism and ultimately to the country. We're thrilled to be able to get someone of his calibre here and his ultimate goal will be to enhance the awareness of Fiji worldwide and bring more people to Fiji.
"This will mean greater things for Fiji, more jobs and greater and better things for tourism," he said.