ERROL Fifer celebrates his 100th birthday smack dab in the middle of this festive season.
Today, Mr Fifer will mark one century of life on Earth, a feat that is getting even more difficult to emulate these days.
So, these festivities will be a great time to reflect on both his achievements as well his plans, even though he’s slowed down a little.
Born on December 28, 1925, when silent films were the height of entertainment, Mr Fifer’s century marks the world’s most transformative shift and ushering in the dawn of the digital frontier.
His century has been defined by remarkable personal achievements. His first notable feat was becoming one of Australia’s top amateur golfers in the 1940s and ’50s, fostering a lifelong love of the game and only finally hanging up his clubs in his early ’90s.
Mr Fifer chose to pursue accounting as a profession and was introduced to the hospitality industry via clients who were part of Sydney’s thriving Eastern Suburbs scene in the late 1950s through the swinging ’60s and the 1970s.
Arriving in Fiji in January 1970, undeterred by the huge logistical challenges of development in the fledgling island tourism industry, he fell in love with the Mamanuca Islands.
By the end of June that year, he had secured a lease with two clients of his practice (one of whom was the brother of one time Australian Prime Minister John Howard) to build what was to become Mana Island Resort.
Japanese investors became major shareholders in Mana in 1973 and Mr Fifer continued to travel between his practice in Sydney and Fiji until 1980 when he and his second wife Anntoinette moved permanently to Fiji to construct what is now Malolo Island Resort.
With the intention of retiring in 1992, the couple sold Malolo Island Resort. However, the pull of the industry again proved irresistible. So, with an instinct that backpacking could become a significant contributor to Fiji’s tourism industry, in 1998 they purchased Nadi Bay Hotel with Anu Patel in Nadi. It became Fiji’s first flashpacker resort.
The property quickly became a key stop on the Pacific backpacking trail and a Nadi hub for tourists and locals looking for a lively venue with great food and music.
It was substantially expanded with the success of the business and rapid growth of the market. The Fifers continued to operate the hotel before finally retiring once again in 2015 – the year Mr Fifer turned 90.
During the Nadi Bay years, he became a founding member of the Fiji Islands Backpacker Association of which he was president from 2002 to 2012.
In 2004, Nadi Bay Hotel won the Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards for Best Budget Accommodation, and in 2006 the Chairman’s Award at the BFTE Air Pacific Awards.
‘Antoinette’s’, the hotel restaurant, won numerous accolades, and in 2007 the cookbook Under the Mango Tree, featuring recipes from the restaurant, was short-listed for the Best in World Foreign Cookbook Awards.
Continuing the accolades in 2007, Mr Fifer won the AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Visionary Award for his contribution to the industry, and in 2007/2008 participated in the National Council for Building a Better Fiji. He was a director of the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association for five years, and a trustee of the Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards from 2010 until his retirement.
A person is, of course, always more than the sum of their parts, and while Mr Fifer is professionally known as a tourism industry pioneer, he’s also a father, grandfather and great-grandfather, renowned for his fierce intelligence, keen sense of humour, love of golf, music and animals (his offices usually housed at least one if not more snoozing cats), and possibly most notably for his genuine interest and care for the people who come into his orbit.
Many new investors to Fiji recall insightful conversations with him while visiting Nadi Bay, he is fondly remembered by his staff as being a fair and supportive employer; he’s held in high esteem by industry colleagues and cherished by his many friends.
And you don’t get to be 100 and live through the most exciting years of tourism development in Fiji without amassing a significant volume of anecdotes; if you are ever in need of a good story – with or without a moral and a suitable beverage – Mr Fifer’s sure to have one for you! When asked how he was feeling about turning 100, Mr Fifer acknowledged that the support and love he has received from friends and staff over the years has been key to his success, and “is most import to me”.
“I send wishes that all Fijians have a happy holiday season.”
