SPTO Congratulates SPC And Acknowledges The Key Role Of CROP Agencies

The South Pacific Tourism Organisation has congratulated the Pacific Community (SPC) on its achievements on the occasion of its 70^th anniversary and acknowledged the work of the Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific (CROP) in strengthening regionalism through their respective mandates and service delivery.
SPTO Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Christopher Cocker made the comments while attending the the 10^th Pacific Community Conference and the 47th Meeting of the Committee of Representatives of Governments and Administrations (CRGA) in Noumea last month (July).
Mr. Cocker expressed SPTO’s support of regional frameworks set by CROP agencies.
“It is fitting to see that the theme of the SPC meetings this week, is “Innovative partnerships for sustainable development.” Mr. Cocker said.
“SPTO in its role to facilitate and drive tourism as a main economic driver for the Pacific through sustainable tourism development, cannot do this on our own.”
“We will seek to establish innovative partnerships and welcome expertise of key partners, such as SPC, in areas that SPTO does not have the resources or expertise.”
Mr. Cocker stated that SPTO looks forward in working with SPC in linking agriculture to food tourism, transportation, disaster risk resilience and management, gender and youth and the promotion and preservation of Pacific cultures etc.
Mr. Cocker said that “Such pooling of our resources will ensure that our greatest Pacific’s assets which are our people, our culture, our land and oceans are well promoted and protected.”
The sessions at the CRGA meeting included Governance training for new CRGA representatives, programs expo for the representatives to interact with programme heads and to get a better understanding of their work and other related sessions.
PIFS also organized a meeting of all CROP Heads as part of its preparations towards the Forum Leaders Meeting in September.
Mr. Cocker highlighted to the partners some regional SPTO activities coming up in October which includes the SPTO/Pacific Asia Travel Association inaugural Pacific Tourism Insights Conference on 25^th October, the SPTO Regional Marketing Meeting on 24^th October, the SPTO Board of Directors meeting on 26^th October and the SPTO Council of Tourism Ministers Meeting on 27^th October.
Member countries are invited and registrations are open on PATA website www.pata.org/event/ptic-2017. SPTO thanked Vanuatu for hosting the October SPTO regional tourism activities and wished SPC the best in continuing their years of service for the Pacific community.
 
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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.
 
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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 03 August 2017)