Sustainable Tourism Capacity Building Opportunity Extended to SPTO Members and Staff

The Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) is pleased to be sponsoring ten participants from SPTO member countries to participate in a four-week Sustainable Tourism Training.

Offered by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), the training offers practical insights and expert guidance to assist tourism destinations and businesses in implementing effective steps and achieving tangible performance goals. It uses the GSTC Criteria as the training curriculum framework and incorporates best practice presentations, business and destination case studies, and in-depth advice and consultation on how to implement sustainability practices for businesses and destinations.

Through this training, SPTO recognizes that participants will be better equipped to understand and help implement the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework (PSTPF) and the soon-to-be-developed Pacific Sustainable Tourism Guidelines.

Participating countries include Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga. In an earlier intake for the training SPTO sponsored participants from the National Tourism Organisations of Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Vanuatu and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Three SPTO staff will also be participating in the training through UNDP Inclusive Growth Regional Project funding.  Mr Mosese Nabulivou (Sustainable Tourism Officer), Ms Catherine Mara (Sustainable Tourism Assistant) and Ms Lusia Matairakula (Sustainable Tourism Project Assistant).

In acknowledging this important opportunity for staff and members SPTO CEO Christopher Cocker noted the strong focus on sustainability that SPTO has adopted in recent years.

“More recently SPTO has made great strides in better coordinating regional efforts towards sustainable tourism through the PSTPF, Pacific Sustainable Tourism Statement of Commitment and the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Guidelines to name a few”, he said.

“Through this training, our members and staff will be better equipped to complement these efforts at the national level as well as strengthen the regional efforts being undertaken by SPTO”.

SPTO will continue to mobilise support for similar capacity development programmes this year to benefit its members and support a sustainable recovery across the region.

Further information on GSTC training programmes can be accessed here.