Motibhai Group president honoured at Fiji tourism awards

Gavin Lipsith

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The prime minister of Fiji has presented Mahendra Patel with the Fiji Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award

Motibhai Group president and CEO Mahendra Patel has been awarded the Fiji Tourism Lifetime Achievement Award. The honour was presented by Fiji's prime minister Laisenia Qarase at a dinner celebrating the Fiji Tourism Awards for Excellence.

Motibhai Group established the first duty-free outlets at Nadi airport in the early 1970s, and since then the business has developed from a "hole in the wall" to a high-quality departures and arrivals store, the prime minister said.

In accepting the award, Patel thanked Motibhai's employees and its many business partners, including Kraft, Sony, Twinings, Bushell, Unilever and Chanel. He said: "In accepting this award I want to express my deep sense of gratitude to my company, my family and my country, which has given me the opportunity to be able to contribute and excel in our field of endeavour."