Tewaka strives for excellence
TWENTY-five years of resilience, consistency and focused business strategy.
That is the depth of trade Tewaka, formerly known as Pacific Destinations Fiji, depend on when it commenced operations in Fiji in 1999.
Now more than two decades later, the iTaukeiowned tourism venture that specialises in transport and destination management services continued to establish its footing in the hospitality sector.
At the recent ANZ Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards, the company scooped the inbound and transport operators award yet again for the third consecutive year.
Company managing director James Sowane attributed this most recent success to his team of “young Fijian talents who dare to have a go so it enables us to form a formidable team that competes with the best in the industry”.
“2024 marks the 25th year of our business journey as an iTaukei-owned business, so this award has made it extremely special to commence our anniversary year,” Mr Sowane said.
“We were awarded the prestigious award in 2019 under our pre-COVID brand, Pacific Destinations Fiji. The 2019 Awards were held in 2021 due to the COVID restrictions.
“We re-branded our business on December 1, 2021, to coincide with the re-opening of our international borders from Pacific Destinations Fiji to Tewaka.”
The local tourism icon said the team’s resilience and determination throughout the COVID-restricted period plus their commitment to deliver services to international levels was recognised at the 2022 ANZ Fiji Tourism in Excellence Awards.
Last year, the team at Tewaka refocused its business strategy to retain as many of its employees who were given the appeal of migration opportunities.
Mr Sowane said they recruited new team members to replace those who had moved on to new opportunities, and they invested time and resources into training.
“2023 was a very unique and special year for tourism in Fiji and we are proud that our strategy prepared our team well to service the record level of business that we serviced to the best of our ability.
“Apart from our team, we invested in new fleet and over the past 12 months, we have invested over $1.3million in new fleet.
“Our business like all tourism operators is based on a 24/7/365 model. We have to be at our best at all times so consistency is key to be able to stay relevant and add value to your clients.”
He said being awarded the FETA Inbound Transportation category for the third-year running had given the team an immense boost in its collective determination to not permit complacency into service standards and to continually strive for excellence in all that we do.
“At Team Tewaka, we respect and value everyone’s contribution and part in our team.
“We have always hired on attitude. With the right attitude we develop and teach our team the essence of hard work, discipline and honest work ethics.”
The Tewaka owner explains that a core and proud attribute of his team is loyalty.
He said a good number of his employees remained with the company for an average of eight to 10 years while some remained loyal part of the company for well over 15 to 20 years.
“We humbly dedicate our award, achievements and contribution to Fiji’s tourism industry over the past 25 years to all our past and current team members and their families.
“We honour some of our team members who have passed to eternal rest in recent years,” he said.
We have always hired on attitude. With the right attitude we develop and teach our team the essence of hard work, discipline and honest work ethics
– Mr James Sowane