SPTO completes training 2 DAY Training in Niue for tourism statistics, sustainable tourism and tourism marketing

The South Pacific Tourism Organisation has concluded 2 days of tourism statistics, sustainable tourism and tourism marketing training workshops in Niue.

In collaboration with its government member, the Niue Tourism Office and its partner Pacific Islands Trade Invest Office Sydney; the 2-day workshop provided capacity and knowledge building training for key stakeholders in both public and private sector. These included Tour and transport operators, Fishing, Dive and Hotel operators, Environmental NGOs, Statistics & Immigration, and national tourism office staff.

“We identified priority areas of training capacity at a for our SIS (Small Island. States) members and we are committed to providing this to help develop regional tourism,” said Chris Cocker, SPTO Chief Executive Officer.

Christina Leala Gale, SPTO Manager Sustainable Tourism Development said that sustainable tourism is still a new concept and participants learnt about experiences of other countries and regions which implementing sustainable tourism policies and practices.

“The need for stronger collaboration at national level with continued technical support from the regional level were identified as some of the solutions to help improve the sustainability of the tourism sector in Niue”, said Gale.

Also providing training to key stakeholders was Elizabeth Rangimana, SPTO Manager Research & Statistics who said the successful development of tourism in any destination is underpinned by robust data and information to inform policy development, marketing and business development strategies.

“Tourism data sources and users from the Niue Tourism Office increased their statistics knowledge in data analysis and research techniques through the application of simple toolkits for reporting,” said Rangimana.

SPTO Marketing Manager, Alisi Lutu said that marketing is crucial for any destination or business in communicating its products and services to the visitor or consumer. However it is dependent on good foundations of an actual marketable product that requires proper research, consultation and partnership, planning and execution strategy to build on becoming a leading sustainable tourism destination or product.

“The need for knowledge and capacity building training on understanding the influence of global and Pacific tourism trends on Niue’s small tourism economy; the brand ‘South Pacific Islands’ as an overarching umbrella to Niue’s ‘Nowhere like us’ brand and marketing with small budgets is key” said Lutu.

One of the key focuses of Niue’s Tourism marketing activities (2017 – 2020) is on “building on the Niue brand of ‘Nowhere like us’ – the value proposition is a focus on marketing Niue as a sustainable Pacific tourism destination – being the conservation and preservation of their unique pristine environment, culture and heritage and people”.

Niue received an estimated 9197 air visitors at the end of 2017, which is a 82% increase in arrivals from 5,047 in 2012. New Zealand continues to the largest source of tourists into Niue representing about 79 % of the market share, followed by Australia at 10 %, Europe at 4%, USA at 2.5% and PICs closely edged at 2.1%

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.