Stefan Pichler, the Managing Director and CEO of Fiji Airways, has been announced as the new Chair of Tourism Fiji. Picher’s appointment was announced by the Attorney General and Minister for Tourism, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who said it signaled an exciting new era for the tourism industry and the Fijian economy as a whole. Pichler will hold the position for a term of three years.
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Pichler has previously served as CEO of Thomas Cook AG, the world's second largest leisure travel group, with an annual turnover of $US 20-billion. He has also held senior positions in the tourism sector of Germany, where he chaired the peak German tourism body, Bundesverband der Deutschen Tourismuswirtschaft (BTW), as well as in Australia, as a member of the Board of Tourism Australia. He has also held roles at the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Tourism Working Group of the World Economic Forum.
Pichler said," I have developed a deep love of Fiji and its people and am fully committed to making our industry the best in the world for a nation of our size. We already have tremendous branding with our slogan "Fiji: Where Happiness Finds You" but there are parts of the world which our marketing effort has yet to reach and where there are great opportunities for expansion. I intend to begin work immediately with the great team around me at Tourism Fiji and all of the stakeholders in our industry to step up our efforts to seize those opportunities."