Pacific Digital Tourism Transformation to benefit from Pacific Tourism Organisation and Trove Tourism Development Advisors Partnership

The Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) has awarded Trove Tourism Development Advisors its Lead Digital Specialist programme and Digital Content Upgrade, both of which fall under the Pacific Digital Tourism Transformation Project funded by the New Zealand government.

The Lead Digital Specialist activity will include a digital skills and technology needs assessment, recommendations and e-learning modules and advice on digital content systems and data management.

The scope of work for the Digital Content Upgrade activity will involve extensive desktop research, development of a content strategy and accompanying action plan and relevant training to key SPTO staff. In addition, Trove Tourism will also be responsible for outlining what performance metrics will be used and how they will be reported, aligning it to SPTO’s Monitoring, Evaluating, and Learning Policy and Framework.

In acknowledging the appointment of Trove Tourism for the two activities, SPTO CEO Christopher Cocker mentioned that these activities will boost and extend SPTO”s digital capabilities, in line with its Digital Strategy.

“Building exceptional digital marketing skills within SPTO is central to the larger goal of SPTO leading a step-change in the digital skills and capabilities across Pacific tourism. This would also include updating and improving SPTO and National Tourism Organisation (NTO) websites and other online platforms with new digital content (images, text, videos, downloadable attachments, etc.) for travel agents, visitors, media, and other partners,” Mr Cocker said.

Mr Cocker added that Digital capabilities are critical for the growth of a successful tourism economy. He added that COVID-19 re-emphasized the need for digital transformation which would harness innovation in the use of digital technology to ensure that Pacific tourism remains competitive at the global level.