Tourism Fiji has appointed Brent Hill, the former Executive Director of Marketing of the South Australian Tourism Commission, as its new CEO, replacing Matt Stoeckel, who some time ago was appointed CEO of Visit Sunshine Coast.
Industry commentators in Fiji have said to Global Travel Media that they hope that Brent will stay rather longer in the role than his predecessors, some of whom have been very short-lived, to give the role and the organisation the continuity it needs at this time.
Tourism Fiji Chairman Andre Viljoen said about Brent’s appointment, “He brings with him 16 years of experience in the tourism and digital marketing space, and will be responsible for reviving the country’s stricken tourism sector in the wake of the pandemic”, adding, “We’re delighted to welcome someone of Brent’s calibre to this critically important role not just for Fijian tourism, but for the Fijian economy,” and “His proven expertise, experience and ideas for the industry’s revival are a perfect fit for Fiji’s current requirements”, adding, “We are in the same situation as every other leisure tourism destination in the world – all of us are going for the same markets, which are now smaller with lower discretionary spending ability,”
In his role at the South Australian Tourism Commission, Brent helped grow the state’s total tourism expenditure from $5.3 billion to $8.1 billion over the last four years an increase of 53% on the previous four years.
A report by John Alwyn-Jones, Special Correspondent, Travel and Tourism, Global Travel Media
