NTO Update: Child Safe Tourism Awareness Sessions

Over the past year the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has put a focus on raising awareness and educating communities on Child Safe Tourism. Child Safe Tourism is centered around one of the core pillars of sustainability – promoting the social and economic benefits of tourism without compromising the safety and wellbeing of children and communities.

Since October 2022, 18 villages and community-based tourism operators have been visited as part of the Child Safe Tourism Awareness sessions, Scoping and Community Engagement. This includes villages and establishments in the interior of Viti Levu, Coral Coast, Sun Coast and Western Division, and the Mamanuca and Yasawa Islands. The most recent session was conducted in Nabalasere Village, Yaro and Solevu in January 2023, with participants such as Castaway, Malolo Island Resort, Tropica, and Six Senses.

These sessions are pivotal to child safe tourism initiatives, as tourism operators have a duty of care to community members and children when they bring in visitors. The purpose of these sessions is not only to educate operators on how to be more child safe, but also to empower them as leaders and ambassadors for ethical tourism. Tourism operators are a key part of the solution to keeping children safe.

This project builds on the Child Safe Tourism Toolkit that was launched in May, 2022. The child safe tourism toolkit was designed in partnership with Australia Volunteers International (AVI), Australia Aid and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. The Toolkit includes a list of recommendations and practical tips to help communities, parents and guardians, tour operators, and tourists to take purposeful action to encourage further protection of children. The Toolkit also contains a number of resources for communities, including numbers for reporting, a child safe tourism checklist, and policy templates. Toolkit training sessions have also been conducted by the Fiji Hotel and Tourism Association (FHTA) and Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Source: Fiji Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation

Photo Credit: Fiji Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation