Ewan Smith CNZM

Congratulations to Air Rarotonga's Ewan Smith on his CNZM

Ewan Smith has been made a companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Cook Islands business and tourism. He founded and has been managing director of Air Rarotonga since 1978, which has made significant contributions to the social and economic development of the Cook Islands. Air Rarotonga grew from transporting around 3000 to 4000 passengers a year to flying more than 70,000 passengers annually by 2013. Smith has overseen the development of an Air Ambulance service by Air Rarotonga, including the acquisition of a jet aircraft which has allowed the service to extend to other Pacific countries. Under his leadership Air Rarotonga has trained and employed almost exclusively Cook Islands-born pilots and support staff. He has contributed to a number of community causes through Air Rarotonga, which have included sponsoring or providing free air travel for sport or charitable groups, as well as sponsoring the education of a number of Cook Islands children up to tertiary level. He has been chairman of the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation since 2011. He has played key roles in developing long-term relationships with tourism partners such as Air New Zealand. He was President of the Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce in 1996 and provided leadership during the Cook Islands economic crisis, championing the establishment of appropriate legal governance frameworks.

Source : https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12236732


My post on Air Rarotonga can be found here : http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.com/2014/06/air-rarotonga-airline-of-cook-islands.html