Name: Dr Apisalome Movono

Position: Associate Professor

Discipline: Tourism & Sustainable Development

Email: apisalome.movono@usp.ac.fj

Short Bio: 

Dr. Apisalome Movono from Buca, Natewa, Cakaudrove, and is vasu to the village of Naimalavau in the vanua ko Nakelo, Tailevu. He is an established academic and practitioner. He has contributed to the University of the South Pacific, Griffith University, and Massey University, where he is currently an Associate Professor of Tourism. Known for his original contributions to Pacific tourism studies, Dr. Movono has emerged as a leading authority on tourism, resilience, and sustainable development in the Pacific, with over 1,176 citations since 2019 (h-index=16). He served as a lead expert on the Global Tourism Panel on Climate Change for COP27, impacting tourism policy and community development. Dr. Movono advises various tourism organisations, including the Solomon Islands Tourism Ministry and the South Pacific Tourism Organisation. His accolades include the East-West Centre Tourism Leadership Award (2018), a Pacific Oceans Finance Fellowship (2019), and a Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund award (2021&2023). His research focuses on tourism frameworks, community cohesion, and well-being metrics in tourism areas.

In 2023, he was called back to Fiji to join a review team to restore the Great Council of Chiefs. He subsequently left academia to help transform the Fijian administration and develop rural policy. Dr. Movono also founded Bay Adventures, a family-run agri-tourism business in Taveuni and consults for projects across Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Zealand, and Fiji. In 2025, he rejoined USP as an Associate Professor, focusing on an inclusive and regenerative future for Fiji and the Pacific tourism.