Over 1000 stakeholders register interest in contributing to the Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework

In the past week over 1000 stakeholders have registered on the Solevaka platform, to contribute to the regional Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework, currently being developed by the appointed consultants TRC Tourism for the Pacific Tourism Organisation, in partnership with New Zealand Foreign Affairs & Trade (NZMFAT) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Having conducted preliminary discussions and the first of three stakeholder consultation sessions, the following key messages are emerging.  The summary of Week 1 stakeholder feedback can be accessed here:

• Sustainable tourism means different things to everyone but central to our understanding is the protection or our people, our children, our communities, the natural and cultural values of our islands, our oceans and our skies.
• Improving the business regulatory environment to allow SMEs to thrive and drive growth is critical for sustainable tourism
• Right now sustainable tourism means survival for many businesses.
• Alliances between the private sector, government and others will be essential to advance our sustainable tourism aspirations.
• Sustainable tourism should incorporate food systems/agribusiness in a new and different way

Stakeholder consultations will continue throughout February via a series of virtual workshops and online forums on www.solevaka.org.  The next workshops will be held on Friday 19 Feb at 9am () and 11am Fiji Time on the theme:  How can Sustainable Tourism contribute to improving Social Equity and Community Benefits.

*For more information, please email or call SPTO at sustainable@spto.org and (679) 330 4177.