THE owner of Tokoriki Island Resort, Andrew Turnbull, plans to invest in the education of Fijians who aspire to work in the tourism industry.
The millionaire businessman was a contributor to the Tourism Super Week in Nadi where local small business operators gathered for a week-long information session with industry experts.
“I know that tourism is the heart and life of Fiji,” said Mr Turnbull.
“Without tourism, Fiji won’t survive.
“With tourism we have to educate the next generation of Fijians to understand tourism.
“With that in mind, this is why we are investing in Tourism Fiji and paying wages for some of them, and this is why we are looking at investing in a school to educate the next generation of Fijians bent towards the tourism industry.”
Mr Turnbull said the next generation of Fijians needed to understand how their businesses could succeed in an ever-evolving industry.
“I have a couple of throw away lines and one of them is don’t compete, be unique.
“In other words, be different from everybody else and the three things you need to be successful in any business which are common sense, hard work and people skills.”
He added maintaining a strong relationship, especially with landowners, was also important for investors.
“People skills are very important with Fijians because they are the landowners, and we just pay lease money to them.
“If you treat them with respect and be firm with them, you will survive and have a working relationship.
“We had discussions 30 odd years ago, it was a little animated, but we resolved the issue amicably and since then we have not had any problems with them.”
