Alumni Spotlight: Mr Petero Manufolau

Growing up around family members who worked in Fiji’s tourism industry, left a lasting impression on Petero Manufolau. In fact, his late aunt, Mrs. Mere Raoma, one of Fiji tourism’s pioneer marketing executives, was someone who greatly inspired Petero and had him convinced and resolute from an early age, that he was going to pursue a career in tourism.  

As a student at USP, Petero was very passionate about community-based tourism development, and he thoroughly enjoyed the tourism units that connected him to local communities and the concepts around developing unique business opportunities.  

Reflecting on his student days at USP, another aspect that Petero enjoyed was his connection to and interaction with students from the region. These students, coming from other Pacific countries, challenged what Petero realizes were, ‘biased Fijian’ opinion, of tourism, and provided fresh insights and an alternative view to tourism development. This experience is likely to have given Petero a greater understanding and appreciation of varying tourism developments across the region as well as the differing levels of maturity when it came to their tourism product per se.  

While at USP, Petero joined SKAL International. Founded in 1934 by Travel managers in Paris, SKAL is a network of travel and tourism professionals, that promotes global tourism and friendships. In joining this group, Petero was introduced to a wide network of Fiji tourism professionals, who would later become his leaders and mentors when he entered the tourism industry. 

Petero also volunteered with the USP tourism department when they would have USP Careers Expo’s. It was here that he would engage with students and provide guidance on tourism courses available at USP. This experience allowed Petero to appreciate the importance of mentoring aspiring students into tourism as well as challenge the general perception, that a career in tourism was perceived as a second option.  

In reflecting on his tourism studies at USP, Petero explains that he would have liked to have seen more internship programs, if they had been available at the time. His view is that internship programs offer students so much, particularly the opportunity to get a better insight into the tourism industry ‘realities’, and these add value to their classroom learning.  

While Petero was a university student, he took up a role as a Passenger Service Agent with Air Terminal Services (Fiji) Limited (ATS), based in Nadi. This experience could be viewed as his ‘internship’ experience as it exposed him to a vital part of the tourism industry i.e. customer services and helped him better understand the dynamics of how each sector functioned. The experience also gave Petero an appreciation of ATS’s importance in contributing to what was a successful Fiji tourism industry.  

So in between juggling work with ATS, and tertiary studies, Petero graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Tourism Studies. His next foray into academic studies was enrolling at USP a few years later to pursue post graduate courses. Petero graduated again from USP in 2013 with a Post Graduate Diploma in Diplomacy and International Affairs.  

After graduation in 2002, Petero joined the Shangri-La’s Fijian Resort, an iconic resort located along the tourism corridor of the Coral Coast. With over 400 rooms, The Fijian as it was fondly known, was very popular with international visitors. Petero’s role was Sales Coordinator, and this was his first introduction to the hotel business.  

Petero grew his career over the next few years, gaining an array of work experiences including participating in international roadshows and travel fairs in the UK and Europe, the United States, Asia, Australia and NZ. His academic qualifications complimented the practical work experience he was gaining rapidly during that time. And his passion to market and promote Fiji and its tourism offerings, never dimmed. It’s fair to say that Petero’s career was exactly where he had dreamt it would be all the years ago. In addition to the Shangri La Fijian Resort, Petero went onto other sales roles, at the Warwick Fiji Hotel and the Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort.   

As one of the early graduates of the tourism studies program at USP, Petero was fortunate to learn from a course of tourism studies developed by academics like Professor David Harrison, who from 1996 helped develop a program in tourism studies at USP.  These were pioneer days for the tourism program at the university and Petero acknowledges that the department has produced many alumni who have gone into the tourism industry in Fiji as well as across the Pacific and abroad.  

Today Petero is serving in a familiar tourism space. He is currently based in Samoa, contributing to the achievement of commercial goals of two flagship tourism entities he works with, and they are the Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey’s Hotel & Bungalows and the Sheraton Samoa Beach Resort. And his role in this is Cluster Director of Sales & Distribution for the Sheraton Samoa Hotel & Resort.  

Petero has returned to familiar ground after a decade of undertaking other roles in the public sector, working first for the then South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) as their Marketing Manager and more recently, as CEO for the Kiribati Tourism Authority. Of note is that as CEO of the Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK), Petero Manufolau was appointed Chair to the Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) Board of Directors in 2022.  

 

We asked Petero a couple of other questions and here was his response. 

What does it mean to you to be an alumnus of (your school or USP in general?  

Being an alumnus of USP School of Tourism is a privilege. As an alumnus, I have the responsibility of upholding the honor of leaders that have set the foundation of the industry that we are now custodians of. I must also ensure sure that my knowledge is passed on to our younger tourism leaders who have the responsibility of managing the future of tourism. 

What did you take from studying at USP which serves you in good stead today? 

The value of being connected to and maintaining relationships with fellow students from Fiji but just as importantly, from around the region. I was always convinced that each student that I studied with as USP was a future leader in their respective country. And today, most of them are key decision makers in their countries or the organizations they serve in. The appreciation of this important aspect of studying at USP, has enabled me to successfully engage with key decision makers across the Pacific region, in the various capacities that I have served in. 

Describe a pivotal moment in your career.  

When I applied for a role at the then South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) in 2011. I got the role and became Manager Marketing for SPTO. This was turning point in my career. It reconnected me to the region and the former students from around the Pacific that I had studied with at USP.  

But in this role, I was also able to extend the knowledge and skills I’d acquired through my Fijian experience and share them with Pacific operators throughout the region. At same time, I also learnt a lot about regional tourism development aspirations and appreciate how tourism in the Pacific has the potential to drive economic growth throughout the region. 

What is something you’re proud of accomplishing in your field? 

I seriously don’t think that I have accomplishments that I should claim to be proud of as achieving on my own. Every milestone achieved has been the result of valuable contributions of stakeholders I worked with.  

But if I were to highlight a few, then it would be my engagement as the first CEO for the Tourism Authority of Kiribati. In this capacity, I helped guide the development of the destination’s first ever sustainable tourism policy and action plan and initiate Kiribati’s first destination branding which is currently due for launch.  

Another one that I want to highlight is, I had the privilege to serve as the Chairman of the Pacific Tourism Organization and it was a humble and yet meaningful moment for me. So, yes that was also an accomplishment.  

How do you see tourism evolving in the future? 

Tourism is continuously evolving as an industry, and it is important that we embrace new developments and changes in this sector. Whether it is in technology and labor mobility challenges, as tourism leaders, we must anticipate changes and develop strategies that will help mitigate the impacts of changes in the tourism industry. 

Whilst the dynamics of doing business in tourism is also continuously evolving, it is important we also ensure that we do not compromise our integrity and values as Pacific tourism destinations for the sake of change. Sustainability needs to be at the heart of the future of tourism and we only have one chance of getting that right.