The Deputy CEO and Deputy Chairman from Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) attended the first ever invitation of AIS Forum which was held at Manado. Indonesia from 30th October to 1st November 2019. The theme for the forum was Natural Beauty and Prosperity: Marine Ecotourism Opportunity. The Forum was based on three major events; the Start Up Business Summit (SBS) held on 30th October, which is a forum for start-ups, academics, marine ecotourism communities; the 4th AIS Senior Officials Meeting held on 31st October and the 2nd Ministers Forum on 1st November 2019.
The overall aim for this AIS Forum was to spark practical actions to promote the development of smart and innovative solutions for the tourism sector and create business opportunities. The theme was chosen as an effort to incorporate elements of conservation and sustainability into marine tourism activities of which incorporated challenges (including climate change adaptation and mitigation, combating marine plastic debris) and opportunities (for blue economy development and good ocean governance) as key topics of discussion.
The Senior Official meeting was attended by the Deputy CEO whilst the Deputy Chairman led as the Head of the Kiribati Delegation to the Ministers meeting. The AIS meeting was beneficial as it provided the platform to share ideas, experiences, and learn from different best practices from the various AIS delegations. Kiribati was also fortunate to share its best practices in terms of Good Marine Governance and promote the Phoenix Islands Protected Area Imitative.
The meeting also discussed the launch of the Blue Economy Index (BEDI) and the AIS Pledge to Ecotourism and support in Microfinance which TAK will be working towards.
The meeting outcomes will lay the path towards the first AIS Forum High Level Conference to be attended by Heads of States/Government in 2020 which no doubt Kiribati will be a part of.
