The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) participated in the Least Developing Countries Fund (LDCF-1) wrap up event on Saturday 17 December at the Kiritimati Island Fish Limited (KIFL) conference room in Ambo. The program included sector presentations and an appreciation dinner.
TAK presented the outcomes of its LDCF-1 project involvement which is the development of Community – Based Tourism (CBT) on Abemama, Maiana and Nonouti Islands. Activities for this initiative included tour guide training, baking training, boat safety training, font desk operations, cookery and hospitality training, and fishing guide trainings. These trainings allowed participants to further understand the importance of their contribution to the CBT model.
Although there are only three pilot islands under the project, TAK is determined to replicate the activities and CBT model to the rest of Kiribati. Trainings have already been conducted in many of the remaining islands such as Abaiang; Makin; Butaritari; Marakei; Tabieuea North; Teraina; and Tabuaeran.
One successful outcome was on Abemama – developing and launching the CBT product of Reina Community. The project allowed TAK to train the people of Reina and other villages on Abemama on packaging and pricing their products and how to welcome and host guests to their village and during the tours.
A large component of the CBT model is preserving traditional knowledge on food preparation and presentation. Many outer islands rely heavily on imported food products which have proven to contribute to non-communicable diseases (NCD). Through this project, the communities are learning to revive their traditional means of food gathering and sustainable fishing practices. This will ensure the current and future generations do not lose traditional knowledge and maintain their land and marine resources.
The pandemic impacted the project outcome which was to measure revenue generation. However, the communities are better positioned now to receive new travellers and adventure seekers.
In addition to revenue generation, the CBT model envisages to increase customer satisfaction the maintenance of traditional knowledge, promotion of sustainable practices and enhancement of traveller experiences.
The other sectors that presented were Coastal Fisheries Division under MFMRD; Environmental Conservation Division and Agriculture & Livestock Division both under the Ministry of Environment, Land and Agricultural Development (MELAD) Culture & Museum Division and Local Government Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and Ministry of Tourism, Commerce, Industry & Cooperatives (MTCIC).
