Over the past 22 years Peter Hopgood has been the General Manager of eight resorts and hotels including the luxury, heritage listed, Grand Hotel Melbourne and the 1,000 room Hamilton Island Resort, Queensland.
Peter began working in Fiji in December 2009, and following is a summary of his community tourism achievements
2010
Elected as Chairman of the Coral Coast chapter of the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
Elected to the board of Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association
Met with government to commence planning for a new Maternity Ward at Sigatoka District Hospital
Initiated monthly community projects with his resort departments
Met with local schools
2011
Launched ‘No Plastic That’s Fantastic’ clean-up campaign in 168 schools and through the local community
Launched Cleanest Village initiative
Launched Cleanest School initiative
Ongoing negotiations with government regarding the construction of a new maternity ward.
Started the first project at Conua Primary School with building of a bus shelter.
Teamed up with NGO Fiji Kids to assist with hosting sponsors
Sponsored Provincial rugby team, Nadroga Stallions
Continued monthly community projects with resort departments
2012
‘No Plastic That’s Fantastic’ clean-up campaign continued
Cleanest Village initiative continued
Cleanest School initiative continued
Ongoing negotiations with government regarding the construction of a new maternity ward.
Commenced the second project at Conua School with building of walkways.
Once again supported NGO Fiji Kids to assist with hosting sponsors
Hosted 20 eye surgeons from the United States (Benevolent Mission International) Undertook over 800 consultations and restored sight to 80 local residents.
Launched Master Chef Challenge for secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa Provinces
Sponsored Provincial rugby team, Nadroga Stallions
Continued monthly community projects with resort departments.
2013
Continued monthly community projects with resort departments.
No Plastic That’s Fantastic clean-up campaign continued
Cleanest Village initiative continued
Cleanest School initiative continued
Construction of the new maternity ward at Sigatoka District Hospital commenced.
Ongoing minor projects at Conua School
Supported NGO Fiji Kids to assist with hosting sponsors
Hosted 20 eye surgeons from the United States (Benevolent Mission International) Undertook over 800 consultations and restored sight to 80 local residents.
2nd annual Master Chef Challenge for secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa Provinces
Sponsored Provincial rugby team, Nadroga Stallions
Established charity golf day with all Coral Coast resorts to raise money for the local hospital – raised $37,000
2014
Continued monthly community projects with resort departments
Construction of the new maternity ward continues.
Joined forces with Newport Junior rugby club to build a fence around the Conua School and paint all of the buildings.
Launched the Community Tourism Project where we undertook to build a meeting Bure for the Conua school and associated villages. This direct-action initiative was designed for guest participation.
Supported NGO Fiji Kids to assist with hosting sponsors
Joined up with NGO all4Fiji to assist with other school projects
Hosted 20 eye surgeons from the United States (Benevolent Mission International) Undertook over 800 consultations and restored sight to 80 local residents.
3rd annual Master Chef Challenge for secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa Provinces
Sponsored Provincial rugby team, Nadroga Stallions
In conjunction with the other resorts on the Coral Coast refurbished the main operating theatre at the Sigatoka District Hospital and also upgraded the out patients ward.
Sigatoka Charity Golf Day raised $60,000
2015
Continued monthly community projects with resort departments
21st January – new maternity ward opened by the Prime Minister
Purchased new eye scanning equipment to detect diabetes (Coral Coast FHTA project)
Joined forces with Newport Junior rugby club to work on the Conua meeting Bure.
We also built and stocked a new computer laboratory at the school.
New meeting Bure at the Conua Schoolofficially opened on the 26th November 2015
Supported NGO Fiji Kids to assist with hosting sponsors
Continued to work with NGO all4Fiji to assist with other school projects
Sponsored all of the schoolboy rugby teams in the province
Launched new rugby league competition in the province – Outrigger was the main sponsor.
Hosted 20 eye surgeons from the United States (Benevolent Mission International) Undertook over 800 consultations and restored sight to 80 local residents.
4th annual Master Chef Challenge for secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa Provinces
Sales team raised over $10,000 from walkathon to build new walkways at the Sigatoka Special School
Sigatoka Charity Golf Day raised $72,000
Peter Hopgood awarded South Pacific General Manager of the Year at the 2015 HM Awards in Australia.
Peter Hopgood awarded Tourism Leader at the 2015 Fiji Excellence in Tourism Awards.
2016
Continued monthly community projects with resort departments
Launched a new community tourism project – construction of a Kindergarten at the Conua School
Joined forces with Newport Junior rugby club to re-paint the school and build a new toilet block for the school teachers.
With the other Coral Coast resorts, sponsored cleanest village and cleanest school competition
Supported NGO Fiji Kids to assist with hosting sponsors
Continued to work with NGO all4Fiji to assist with other school projects
Sponsored all of the schoolboy rugby teams in the province
Sponsored the new provincial rugby league team “Nadroga Outrigger Knights”
Hosted 20 eye surgeons from the United States (Benevolent Mission International) Undertook over 800 consultations and restored sight to 80 local residents.
5th annual Master Chef Challenge for secondary schools in the Nadroga/Navosa Provinces
Sales team raised over $9,000 from walkathon to build new workshop for the students at the Sigatoka Special School