WHEN Rosie Whitton scored her first job as a tour consultant with Hunts Travel at Nadi International Airport in the 1960s, she had little inkling that a decade and a half later, she would be starting her own business.
She never even imagined that Rosie Tours, the company she set up, would one day transform from a one-desk company into a multi-facetted colossus.
From its very humble beginnings, Rosie Tours would become Rosie Holidays and branch out into transfers, rental cars, resorts, a travel academy and pioneer charter flights to the lucrative Chinese market.
Rosie and her husband Roy were pioneers. They had established Fiji’s first nightclub that had a restaurant. The hangout was called the Fijiana.
It was best described by musicians of note as the place to play in the entire Western Division.
Musicians said that once you played at the Fijiana, you had earned your stripes on the local music scene.
The Whittons also established the Dominion International in partnership with Punjas, Fiji’s first hotel property on the Martintar strip which also featured the country’s first and only drive-through bottle shop, and the first free airport shuttle through Rosie Tours.
“You have to remember that when I was at Hunts Travel there were only three hotels in Nadi — the Nadi Hotel, Skylodge and The Mocambo (now Novotel Nadi),” the 82-year-old industry icon recalled.
“And there were three big giants in the industry, Dan Costello, who operated a day cruise to Beachcomber Island, Dick Smith from Castaway Island Resort and Mr Barrington from Nadi Hotel.
“I really miss those three, they were real kaiviti at heart. Even though they were big owners and operators, it was so humbling that they would ask me to help sell their tours and make their business grow.”
During her time at Hunts Travel, Rosie said her biggest challenge was juggling naps in-between flight arrivals.
“Those days, Nadi Airport was a refuelling stop for all the flights crossing the Pacific.”
Fiji was a mandatory stopover for San Francisco-Sydney flights at the time.
And during the first half of the ’60s, Nadi served as a key airport for the transfer of passengers from Auckland’s Whenuapai airport, which could only take turboprop and piston aircraft.
Passengers flew from Auckland to Nadi on turboprops and piston-engine airplanes, and were transferred on to the new McDonnell Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 707 jets bound for North America and Europe.
“These aircraft would land at any time,” said Rosie.
“So you could work from 9 to 5 and go home for a little sleep and then had to be back at 9pm and then midnight and again at 4am.
“It really depended on what time the aircraft would roll in.
“It was my biggest challenge but I loved every minute of it.
“The airport wasn’t where it is now. It was located closer to the old Sunflower Aviation building and when the planes landed they would taxi to the airport terminal there and the passengers would walk out and cross to the Mocambo.
“They would be served refreshments while their aircraft was being refuelled and locals were not allowed at the Mocambo at that time.
“So only the staff would get to see celebrities and movie and music stars who arrived on those planes.”
During the swinging ’60s, entertainment superstars such as Frank Sinatra, who performed in Sydney passed through the country.
It was during this time that Rosie met Roy Whitton, an Australian who was sent by Qantas to manage its operations in Fiji in the mid ’60s.
While in the country, he foresaw Fiji’s potential as a tourism destination. Together with Rosie, he helped pave the way for other tourism industry ventures by locals and expatriates.
Rosie and Roy’s pioneering spirit would be adopted by their son, Tony, who later helped establish some of the company’s biggest ventures — Malolo Island Resort, Likuliku Beach Resort and charter flights in partnership with Fiji Airways to China.
“People say a lot wonderful things about how big Rosie Holidays has become but if only they knew how hard it was when we first started,” she shared.
“People think we started with money but that wasn’t true. When Roy resigned from Qantas, we went through some difficult times but because we worked together we made it through.
“When there were opportunities we grabbed it and we made sure it worked.
“And the one thing I have never forgotten was how much our family — and this includes our workers — contributed to our success.
“When I was working for Hunts Travel, I was really amazed by how the owners, Iris and Harvey treated us.
“And I told myself that if I ever got to be a boss, I would be just as good and kind and generous as they were to me.
“And if there is one message that I would like to share it is this — that when Roy and I started Rosie Tours more than 40 years ago, we did it to establish ourselves but we also did it to ensure that we could share our success with our staff.
“They have remained a key ingredient in our success from day one and this is something that will never change at Rosie Holidays.”
Rosie said it was Roy’s idea to name their company after her.
“He said ‘everybody knows you’, and that was that.
“And I still remember when we bought our first tour bus in the ’70s and it had Rosie painted on the side, I just couldn’t believe it.
“When you get something like that you just thank God.
“It’s always been in God’s hands and it still is and I am always so grateful.”
