Republic of Kiribati’s Minister for Tourism, Commerce, Industry, and Cooperative (MTCIC), Honourable Michael Bootii Nauan, highlighted the concerns of Small Island States and Territories regarding air connectivity to SISTs in the region.
He made these comments as a panelist presenting on Improving Air Connectivity for Small Island States at the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Leadership Summit, organised by the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) at the Edgewater Resort and Spa in Cook Islands.
Hon Nauan was part of the Ministerial Panel 2 on Enhancing Pacific resilience and competitiveness through sustainable tourism alongside French Polynesia Vice President Honourable Jean-Christophe Bouissou, Cook Islands Associate Minister for Tourism Honourable Tingika Elikana and New Caledonia Tourism Director General Ms. Julie Laronde.
In highlighting his recommendations to the question of ‘How air connectivity to SISTs could be improved, Hon Nauan shared that continued Development partner support to connect SIST with source markets, where the Nauru Airlines Island Hopper Program, supported by DFAT, effectively connects Nauru, Kiribati, RMI, and FSM with Australia on a fortnightly basis.
He added that there is also an opportunity for PRC-aligned countries to attract the Asia market through seasonal or charter services supported by our Chinese counterparts. Development partner support through destination marketing to help support SIST promotional initiatives in the source market will also help improve loading for supporting schedules.
On airline support, Hon Nauan expressed that current Pacific air carriers play an important role in enabling SIST destinations to grow through reduced fare consideration where possible and more flexibility on SIST sector fares to allow for last-minute changes dues to industry conditions in SIST’s.
“If we are talking about sustainable tourism- connectivity on the region, what comes to mind, how we can connect those dots and how to maintain this. Flights to these SISTs are very high, and many tourism refrains from traveling across,” Hon Nauan mentioned.
The Pacific Sustainable Tourism Leadership Summit was held on Wednesday 02 November, ahead of the Pacific Council of Tourism Ministers meeting on Thursday 03 November 2022.
