Sakopo Lolohea has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer for the Ministry of Tourism (Tonga Visitors Bureau).

Sakopo Lolohea brings a wealth of Tourism and Airline experience to the Executive Officer’s role. In fact Mr Lolohea is not new to this Ministry as he started his career back at the Tonga Visitors Bureau (later become the Ministry of Tourism in 2006) as Marketing Officer in 1983 before moving to Fiji in 1988 to become the Head of Marketing Division for the Tourism Council of the South Pacific ( now South-Pacific.travel). Mr Lolohea returned to Tonga in 1994 and took up the role of Sales & Marketing Manager for the Royal Tongan Airlines. He later became the CEO for the Tonga Rugby Football Union and the Pacific Rugby Limited until 2006. He was appointed by Air Pacific Ltd as Manager Tonga in 2007 and has played an active role as Tourism consultant to the Tonga Tourist Association since 2008.

Mr Lolohea said “Our immediate focus is to normalize and strengthen our relationship with the private sector which is the foundation of the industry. This symbiotic relationship is crucial to the successful development of this sector both in the short and long term planning of the Ministry.’

“Tourism is playing a key if not a leading role in our economic recovery for the Kingdom of Tonga, and it will require the leadership and coordination role of the Ministry of Tourism along with the active participation of the Industry Stakeholders and Airlines”, he said.

Mr Lolohea believed that the industry marketing effort should mainly concentrate in strengthening and invigorating our presence in our ‘bread and butter’ markets of New Zealand, Australian and the US.

Sakopo Lolohea will commence his new role on the 25th January, 2010.