Page 29 - IB AUG 2017

Tourism
Rosie’s legacy lives on

by Nanise Loanakadavu upwardly mobile people between the ages
of 20 to 35 years, looking for inspiring
WHAT started off with only two drivers long-haul travel destinations.
and two staff members is now recognised “We started from nothing,” Mr Whit-
as Fiji’s best travel company employing ton said.
more than 600 people. “But our own definition of intergrity
Meet Rosie Whitton, who started her keeps us moving forward which is when
business - Rosies Tours - in 1974, at a you do the right thing when no one is
time when aviation and tourism industry looking.”
recorded a decline in visitor arrivals to He said their business believed that
our shores. Rosie Tours has boosted its Chinese arrivals in Fiji with they could build some of Fiji’s amazing
a strong marketing strategy. Photo: File
During her time at Hunts Travel, Rosie products on a small scale.
said her biggest challenge was juggling bottle shop, and the first free airport 2011 was another year of progress in
naps in-between flight arrivals. shuttle through Rosie Tours. the China market with Rosie developing
“Those days, Nadi Airport was a refu- Her theory is simple “do little things well partnerships with more than 48 of the
elling stop for all the flights crossing the and you will be given more”. major Chinese tour operators based in
Pacific.” Rosie and Roy’s pioneering spirit would the five performing regions of Shanghai,
Fiji was a mandatory stopover for San be adopted by their son, Tony, who later Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
Francisco-Sydney flights, Hawaii and helped establish some of the company’s These are added to 26 of the largest tour
America at the time. biggest ventures — Malolo Island Resort, operators in Hong Kong and three from
It was during this time that Rosie met Likuliku Beach Resort and charter flights Taiwan to provide Rosie with strong agent
Roy Whitton, an Australian who was sent in partnership with Fiji Airways to China. support on the ground.
by Qantas to manage its operations in Fiji Tony Whitton said their family busi- In 2012 Rosie targeted 3500 visitors
in the mid 1960s. ness had developed from a family-owned from China and to help achieve this Rosie
During the first half of the ‘60s, Nadi business receiving 160,000 visitors every launched its own road show covering 12
served as a key airport for the transfer of year, to scooping three of the four awards cities in China and then moving on to
passengers from Auckland’s Whenuapai it was nominated for at last night’s ANZ Taipei, Hong Kong and Korea.
Airport, which could only take turboprop Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards, and Rosie also started to concentrate on the
and piston aircraft. being voted the best travelling company development of high-end accounts.
Passengers flew from Auckland to Nadi 14 years in a row. In 2013, Rosie started to use social
on turboprops and piston-engine air- Forty years later, Rosie Holidays’ ongo- media to deliver its messages.
planes, and were transferred on to the new ing campaign to raise Fiji’s public profile in More frequency was added out of Hong
McDonnell Douglas DC-8 and Boeing 707 China’s lucrative outbound travel market Kong and Rosie bought 40 travel agents
jets bound for North America and Europe. has landed another first for the country to Fiji to help them understand what the
But the enthusiastic struggling single with the announcement that an executive market offered.
mother of one accepted the challenge, of China’s leading online travel company It participated in 10 consumer and trade
with no cash and no people to work with, will be visiting Fiji. shows across China.
ventured into the tourism industry with Duan Dongdong is the Vice President of In 2014, Rosie participated in two large
the ability to improve the services and Fliggy, the online travel company of the e- road show trips with the resort partners,
economy well-being. commerce colossus Alibaba Group, which national airline and the national tourism
Rosie and her two drivers, would go to is a global leader in online wholesale trade. office.
the airport and help visitors who inquire This is where Fiji comes in with connec- Rosie now has offices in Beijing, Shang-
about accommodation, transportation and tions from Hong Kong and Rosie’s own hai and Guangzhou, staffed by Chinese
those who had not made any bookings at charter services from Shanghai, Beijing nationals.
all, with little inkling that a decade and a and Hangzhou, and with Fiji’s reputation Rosie launched the Rosie Charter
half later her company would transform as a pristine island paradise in the South Holidays to capitalise on Chinese New
from a one-desk company into a multi- Pacific, with a culture that is authentic and Year travel in February, traditionally Fiji’s
facetted colossus. traditions that are rich and interesting. low season and put in a lot of work in the
From its very humble beginnings, Rosie Mr Whitton said: “This is an important niche markets of diving, MICE and golf.
Tours would become Rosie Holidays and milestone for Fiji Tourism –alitrip.com is In 2015, it launched an expanded Char-
branch out into transfers, rental cars, re- now China’s leading online travel company ter Holidays programme adding Beijing to
sorts, a travel academy and pioneer char- with 200 million users that transact on the the original port of Shanghai and 12 dif-
ter flights to the lucrative Chinese market. site to purchase air tickets and holiday ferent media visits which produced a great
The Whittons also established the Do- packages. number of editorials about Fiji holidays.
minion International in partnership with Last year the Alibaba group launched Rosie also launched an online booking
Punjas, Fiji’s first hotel property on the its new online brand, Fliggy, targeting the service to allow agents to check availabili-
Martintar strip which also featured the Chinese millennials, which is a market ties, get quotes and book travel, making
country’s first and only drive-through segment numbering approximately 385m selling Fiji easier for them.

Islands Business August 2017 29