South Pacific Tourism Organisation Board Deliberates On South Pacific Tourism Exchange 2018

The South Pacific Tourism Organisation Board of Directors met in Sydney to deliberate amongst other things on the success of the 2017 South Pacific Tourism Exchange (SPTE) and to also consider plans for the next event, recognized as the biggest travel show for the South Pacific.
Based on feedback from the participants of the 2017 SPTE, the Board agreed that the next event will be held in Adelaide in 2018, to coincide with the Australian Tourism Exchange.

Other decisions made at the meeting include the approval by the Board for Vanuatu to host the inaugural Pacific Tourism Insights Conference (PTIC) 2017, a joint collaboration between SPTO, the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and the Vanuatu Tourism Office. The conference is to be held on October 25th this year and is aimed at giving the industry an insight into global trends and events that are directly related to the tourism industry.

The second quarter meeting was attended by the government representatives of American Samoa, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the private sector representative from Fiji Airways.
The Directors also discussed issues related to SPTO’s policies, activities, work programme and budget since their last meeting in October and approved a tabled Governance Policy which includes the appointments of Tourism Industry Members to the SPTO Board.
Other decisions made include the approval of a specialized Membership and Corporate Sponsorship Officer (MCSO) dedicated to driving membership programme and corporate sponsorship.

SPTO Chief Executive Officer, Chris Cocker updated the Board on the funding proposals and other activities currently being undertaken by the secretariat in order to diversify its funding base and not rely solely on one donor.
“The SPTO secretariat is appreciative of the efforts and commitments of the National Tourism Offices to support the advocacy role of the Secretariat,” Mr Cocker said.
“We need the support of the NTO’s to enable us to continue to provide a strong secretariat role for all of our tourism stakeholders in the Pacific.”
The meeting was held following the conclusion of SPTE 2017 at the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour, where more than 100 sellers from the Pacific region came together to meet 79 buyers from Europe, United States of America, Canada, China, South Korea and Australia and New Zealand to discuss travel packages to the region.
The next Board of Directors meeting has been scheduled for 26 October 2017, following the PITC meeting in Vanuatu.
 
About SPTO
Established in 1983 as the Tourism Council of the South Pacific, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) is the mandated organisation representing Tourism in the region. Its 18 Government members are American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the People’s Republic of China. In addition to government members, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation enlists a private sector membership base.
 
ENDS
For more information, contact:
Alisi Lutu, Marketing Manager
South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO)
Email: alutu@spto.org or +679 3304177
 
(Source: South Pacific Tourism Organisation [SPTO] Press Release 26 May 2017)