Tourism Fiji Appoints Chief Operations Officer

Nadi, 19 July 2022 – Tourism Fiji is delighted to announce the appointment of Mr Leigh Howard as our Chief Operations Officer. Leigh will report directly to Tourism Fiji’s CEO and will play a crucial role in ensuring the organisation operates effectively across all our offices globally and achieves the goals laid out in our Corporate Plan 2022 – 2024.

Born and raised in Fiji, Mr Howard has over 11 years in leadership and management positions in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji with the AOT Group and ATS Pacific and holds a Master of Business Administration from the Southern Cross University in Australia. Prior to accepting this role, he worked at ATS Pacific (Fiji) for six and a half years, first as Operations Manager and then as General Manager of Fiji.

“Leigh brings his in-depth knowledge of Fiji’s tourism industry and products to the team along with a proven track record of global success in areas we value such as driving business developments, operational and fiscal responsibilities, events, staff development and mentoring. All these attributes, coupled with his wealth of experience and passion for Fiji, in Fiji, made him the best candidate for the job. We wish our former COO James Pridgeon every success in his new role with Fiji Airways, and we now warmly welcome Leigh to our Tourism Fiji family, and we’re excited to see the great work he will do for Fiji and the destination,” said Tourism Fiji Chief Executive Officer Brent Hill.

As part of his role, Leigh will take up the mantle and drive Tourism Fiji’s efforts in the development and delivery of several initiatives to assist tourism industry stakeholders including in the events space, and key product experiences and maintain a great relationship with both new and key industry stakeholders.

“As a proud Fijian, I’m excited and grateful to be given the opportunity to work with the exceptional calibre of people at Tourism Fiji. I look forward to reconnecting with our industry stakeholders and partners and joining the movement in telling the world, that Fiji is ‘Open for Happiness’,” Mr Howard said.

He will commence with his new role on Tuesday 19 July 2022 and will be based at Tourism Fiji’s headquarters in Nadi, Fiji.