“Given that the Rio Olympics is watched the world over and has an estimated reach of 3.6 billion viewers, the publicity it has garnered is priceless,” he said.
“It has made a great deal more people sit up and take note not only of Fiji but the South Pacific region as a whole.”
On Friday, Fiji beat Britain 43-7 to claim the country's first ever Olympic gold medal since it started competing in the Games in 1956.
Four years ago, Fiji's Iliesa Delana won the country's first ever Paralympics gold medal in the men's high jump event in London in 2012.
He came back to Fiji a hero and went on to become the country's Assistant Minister for Youth and Sports, a position he currently holds.
Fiji's Olympic win at Rugby 7s was doubly significant given that this year marks the first time that rugby has been reintroduced at the Olympics since 1924.
Within minutes of the win, Fiji quickly became a viral social media sensation.
The country went on to become the number one trending item on Twitter, and the most searched item on Google for the day.
Only a week prior, another Pacific Island nation stole the show at the Games' opening ceremony.
Tonga's 32-year old flag bearer Pita Nikolas Taufatofua grabbed the world's attention when he came out extremely 'oiled' and bare-chested, dressed in nothing but a tapa (Tongan bark cloth).
Taufatofua quickly became a sensation on Twitter and other social media platforms.
One tweet read: "Pita Taufatofua just increased tourism to #Tonga just by walking out into the stadium... What a guy!"
During the week, he has gone on to appear on a number of popular American news and variety shows watched by millions.
“Fiji's outstanding win and Tonga's scene stealing flag bearer have helped raise a tremendous amount of global interest in the region, which our national tourism organisations now need to capitalise on,” said Cocker.
“Using these Olympic heroes as tourism brand ambassadors could help maximise destination marketing and development campaigns to increase awareness of the Pacific as a holiday destination.”
He added that the region could build on the momentum gained from the Olympics to boost the profile of upcoming sporting events such as the Fiji International, an annual golfing event held since 2014, and the 2019 South Pacific Games to be held in Nuku'alofa, Tonga.
The publicity could also be used to attract more international sporting events such as the recent Super Rugby game held in Suva in July to this part of the world, he added.
“The Olympic win and attention is tremendous,” added Cocker. “What matters now is what we do with that attention.”
Based in Suva, SPTO works with 17 Pacific island countries to market and develop tourism in South Pacific region.
www.spto.org/
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