Increased High-Level Participation in upcoming Pacific Tourism Organisation

Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and American Samoa are the most recent countries to confirm the participation of their tourism Ministers and equivalents at the upcoming SPTO Council of Tourism Ministers Meeting and Pacific Sustainable Tourism Leadership Summit (PSTLS), to be held in the Cook Islands from 1^st – 3^rd November. In doing so, they join Ministers from New Caledonia and Kiribati, whose participation was announced earlier.

Against the backdrop of tourism recovery post-pandemic, the meetings will provide an important opportunity for high-level discussions on a coordinated regional effort in support of the sector’s transformation, to a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient Pacific Tourism industry. Moreover, through the following sessions, the inaugural PSTLS will facilitate high-level engagement on innovative ways forward and the sharing of best practices and lessons learnt:

• Panel 1: Country-led solutions for regional progress towards 2030
• Panel 2: Enhancing Pacific resilience and competitiveness as a sustainable tourism destination, post COVID-19
• Panel 3: Partnerships for strengthening climate and disaster resilience in tourism

Confirmed high-level panellists to date include the Hon. Jean-Christophe Bouissou (Vice President of French Polynesia) as well as Tourism Ministers such as the Hon. Fekitamoeloa Útoikamanu (Tonga), Hon. Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster (Samoa), and Hon Michael Bootii Nauan (Kiribati). Additionally, the stakeholder panel will feature Mr Paul Davis (Senior Tourism Adviser, NZMFAT), Mr Sefanaia Nawadra (Director General, SPREP) and Ms Pania Tyson- Nathan (CEO, New Zealand Maori Tourism).

Commenting on the increasing high-level participation, SPTO CEO Christopher Cocker highlighted the importance of ministerial-level engagement, particularly as many Pacific destinations begin to reopen in a highly competitive global environment.

“The pandemic devastated tourism worldwide. With borders now reopened and normalcy returning, Pacific destinations have to remain competitive with other tourist destinations globally. As such, we need face-to-face and high-level engagements to ensure the needed support for a well-coordinated tourism transformation and recovery”.

“It is heartening to see many of our tourism Ministers recognizing the importance of these meetings, through their confirmed participation to physically attend. I hope that this encourages SPTO’s other member countries to send delegations to the Cook Islands in November. After all, in order to truly reflect our diverse region, we need full participation which represents the region’s larger, more established destinations alongside smaller, emerging destinations, all of whom are equally important to SPTO”, he said.