Research and Statistics Update

Iọkwe from the Research & Statistics Team! For this month’s update, we are happy to share with you the following activities and event that we have had going on for August:

1.     Regional Tourism Resource Center (RTRC) Upgrade Progress

SPTO’s Regional Tourism Resource Center is the Pacific’s regional hub for tourism information. As a response to the need to upgrade the resource center, SPTO had recently recruited ACTON Fiji as the technical partner for this work. The design concept for the new platform is now completed and the development phase has commenced with the aim of completing the project by mid-October. The upgrade aims to provide easy access to tourism-related information, research and statistics and that such information reaches all stakeholders on time.

2.     Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy (PTSS) implementation planning phase underway

Following the approval by the Board of Directors of the Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy in May, work is currently underway in designing the 3-Year Work Plan, a Resourcing and Budget Plan and a Communications Plan for the implementation phase. With the support of the IDEEA Group, the Work Plan and associated outputs will provide guidance to SPTO, the Board and relevant NTO officials as well as partners in planning and implementing the PTSS activities. It is envisaged that these key initiatives will be approved by the SPTO Board at its next meeting in October.  The PTSS can be accessed here.

3.     Quarter 2 Visitor Arrivals Snapshot

A snapshot of the Quarter 2 Visitor Arrivals to the Pacific is currently being developed as data on countries’ visitor arrivals are being compiled. The snapshot report is scheduled to be released by the end of September 2021. For Quarter 1 Visitor Arrivals, this snapshot report can be accessed here.  

4.     Insights Section to feature on SPTO Website

With the newly designed SPTO website up and running, the Research and Statistics team is contributing to setting up a new section on the website for research, statistics and insights. This section will provide visitors to the website with up-to-date information to aid planning, policy and decision making.

5.     Pacific Islands Tourism Research Symposium

The Pacific Tourism Organisation acknowledges the importance of research and statistics as a key strategic priority in its Strategic Plan 2020-2024.  It aims to ensure relevant tourism data and information are collected and disseminated to support sustainable tourism development efforts and programs in the region. In hindsight, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided individual countries and the Pacific region with an opportunity to reset, rethink and rebuild tourism back to be more resilient and sustainable.  A range of tourism research initiatives have been and continue to be undertaken in the Pacific region.  Recognising the invaluable contribution of such research and knowledge to the recovery planning efforts of Pacific Island Countries during these unprecedented times, bringing together the research community, Pacific Island Countries, partner organisations, private sector and development partners is fundamental in moving forward. 

In light of this, the Pacific Islands Tourism Research Symposium, is proposed to bring together all partners to discuss the state of play, challenges and opportunities and define the way forward for improving regional coordination in tourism research. Participating in this symposium will also be the starting point for establishing a regional framework that will ensure tourism research is responsive to the needs of Pacific tourism stakeholders, practical and provides insight into the challenges faced by the tourism sector.

The symposium is the starting point of ongoing dialogue with the ultimate goal of strengthening cooperation to support tourism planning and development through research and statistics.

This virtual event is scheduled to take place over a period of two days from 30^th November to 1st December, 2021.  Further information on the symposium will be made available in the near future.

Interested in learning about the trends in the key source markets of the Pacific Islands? Read the July 2021 update of the Market Watch, which brings you information on outbound market trends by clicking here to access the report.

For any queries or questions, please contact the Research and Statistics team at research@spto.org