Ocean Charters Fiji is nominated under Transport Facilitaors category at the AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards.
JYOTI PRATIBHA
The underdog at the upcoming AON Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards is Ocean Charters Fiji.
Nominated under the Transport Facilitators category, this is the first nomination for this company.
Company managing director Nick Cooper says being nominated alongside the “Fijian tourism industry icons- Rosie Holidays and Pacific Destinationz” is an honour for him and his team.
“It is good see that smaller operators are also recognised for their contribution. It shows that recognition is awarded to a quality product however small and that size doesn’t matter,” Mr Cooper said.
About Ocean Charters Fiji
The company is three-years-old. It came about as an idea to fill the gap of providing quality service in charters.
Ocean Charters Fiji runs private charters such as island hopping, snorkelling and game and sports fishing.
“We pride ourselves on our quality, reliable, professional and personalised service with clean well maintained vessels.”
With five full time staff, Mr Cooper and his team have their hands full throughout the year.
When Mr Cooper started the company he had one staff member besides himself and between the two of them, they did it all.
This was from driving the boats, marketing and sales, accounting and booking keeping, all out of the spare bedroom.
“Now we have an office and five staff Talei, Logan and Dennis and two boats.
“We are now the preferred provider for many of the resorts in the Mamanucas and have established contracts with overseas wholesalers.”
Mr Cooper said continuous staff training is important.
Their approach to business is the triple bottom line, not just profit, but a social and environmental responsibility as well on ‘People Planet Profit’.
About Nick
Nick has lived in Fiji for some nine years. He became a Fijian Citizen as soon as he was eligible and says he does not want to live anywhere else in the world. He adores this country and its people.
He has been in tourism industry for over 20 years and has global experience, mainly in the South Pacific
He also used to write tourism policy for the Australian Federal Government Tourism Division and was also on the team that wrote the Australia 10 year tourism plan under the last Howard Government.
He holds a Masters Degree in Tourism Management and a Masters Degree Business Administration.