JEFFERY Black, also known as Jeffery Naisogoniceva, is one of the many men and women who give their all to keeping our country’s tourism industry.
He has not only dedicated his adult working life to the industry but has created unforgettable memories by working in 15 of the country’s hotels.
Born in Lami to parents Joseph and Lucia Black (nee Rogers), he was raised in their home at Vatuvia Rd along with his three brothers.
He attended my formative classes at Marist Convent School, and then St Agnes Primary School in Nabua for classes four and five, and then Mount St Mary’s in Nadi for classes 6, 7 and 8, when the family moved to Nadi when his father joined Fiji Machinery Ltd selling fiat tractors in the Western Division.
“Nadi was totally different when we first moved in, it was a western town, a lot friendlier, laid back, it had less traffic then, and since we moved it has been home,” he said.
His first job after leaving school was as a porter with Island Air Services that flew to Malolo Island Resort, then as a rental car attendant for Rosie The Travel Service (now Rosie Holidays Fiji).
“I was a washboy, washing their rental cars, and later did some tour guiding.”
After Rosie he joined Sun Tours Ltd as an assistant stores manager, and was later promoted to operations manager transport working out of the Shangri La Fijian Resort.
“When I got there I realised I wanted to move into hospitality, into the hotel side of things. Every time I walked into a resort, sat down at the bar and saw the service I felt something telling me I could do that too.”
Then he began working as a waiter at the Hideaway Resort. He later progressed to the role of Wine Sommelier before being promoted to assistant duty manager. After approximately two years, he joined the Reef Resort, where he worked under Jeffery Shaw, a prominent figure in the tourism industry at the time and the then owner of both the Reef Resort and Castaway Island Resort.
“After 6 years at the Reef Resort, we demolished it and I helped rebuild it as the Outrigger on the Lagoon (now the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort) as a labourer. I also worked in the stores department delivering materials to the concessionaires (subcontractors).”
When the work was done and the resort was complete, and Jeffery had seen that all the accommodations and facilities were world class, he donned his food and beverage supervisors’ uniform again and for another seven years served guests who would return time and again.
Work then took him to Rarotonga in the Cook Islands at the Muri Beach Club Resort in Rarotonga, and later the Club Raro Resort.
Next, it took him to New Zealand where for four years he worked at a restaurant and bar in Matamata, which was one of the filming locations for the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit trilogies. He later spent some time as a forklift operator and also worked at a powder coating shop.
In 2015 he returned to Fiji and picked up a job at the Octopus Resort, and after a year resigned to take an offer at Lomani Island Resort in Malolo Lailai. From there he joined Wananavu Beach Resort in Rakiraki.
After all that time away Jeffery decided he wanted to be a little bit closer to home in Nadi so he took a job as food and beverage manager at First Landing Resort for two years. He stayed home for a whole year during Covid-19 pandemic, planting and building a house.
When borders reopened it was time for him to go back to work he marched into Anchorage Beach Resort in Vuda, and later got offered a position at the Pearl Resort in Pacific Harbour, with its four restaurants and bars posed quite the challenge for someone with all the experience that Jeffery no doubt has.
“The Pearl was very popular for conferences and events, especially weddings so I often had banquets and buffets to manage.
“Sometimes we’d have 10 back to back weddings.”
Leaving the Pearl he joined the newly built Waya Island Resort, where he trained the people of Yalobi Village for three months before he had to rush back to the mainland to look for and eventually bury his son.
He then joined Captain Cook Cruises, and jumped aboard the MV Caledonia Sky, which the company operated between late 2023 and late 2024. Apparently, even people who work in tourism have their own bucket lists of places to visit, and Jeffery’s was all the places around his country that he was yet to see, and he got to do it while on the boat.
“I visited the whole of the Lau group, Kadavu, Taveuni, all the places I dreamed of visiting on that boat.
“Every Island we stopped at, I made sure I got off and visited the island, me butuka (to stand on it)!”
After sailing for about a year he came back to Nadi for a short stint as a food and beverage supervisor at the Crowne Plaza Nadi Bay Resort and Spa, looking after the resorts’ Latitude Nightclub and the 17.78 Whiskey Bar.
He spent about a year in Melbourne caring for his brother then returned to Fiji. At 59 you’d expect him to hang up his apron and enjoy his well earned retirement, but upon return he started looking for work again.
“I thought I’d give it another year and retire at 60.”
When Jeffery was interviewed in March this year, he was the restaurant and bar manager at Barefoot Manta Island Resort, on the beautiful Island of Drawaqa in the enchanting Yasawa group.
“This is my last resort.
“The knowledge I have gained in my years working in tourism, I’m passing it on to the people of Kese and Muaira (Villages) and I will retire to Sabeto and enjoy my view of the Ravoravo range.”
Jeffery has Scottish ancestry and is linked to Sabeto through his paternal grandmother who was a woman of rank from Natalau Village. He was given the Naisogoniceva name when he was registered in Sabeto at the request of his mother to the then momo levu na tui Sabeto, Ratu Kaliova Mataitoga.
“We were not known in Natalau, so my mother made the request, Ratu Kaliova agreed and the Tokatoka agreed because my uncles, my father’s brothers, were also registered there.”
Jeffery is now a food and beverage supervisor at the Mecure Accor in Martintar, Nadi, and well on track to enjoy his days watching the sun throw its setting rays upon the Ravoravo hills.
n IAN CHUTE is the communications coordinator at Blue Prosperity Fiji.
