Taare Rikiai

On 17 August, 1942, US Marines and Carlson Raiders attacked the local Japanese garrison (est. 160 Japanese troops), and destroyed installations and seaplane bombers on the island of Butaritari (Makin).

In retaliation, Japanese war planes were sent from the Marshall Islands to Makin Butaritari on the 18th August, instructed to bomb the second village from the South anticipating that the 9 Americans were still hiding there.  The bombers instead mistakenly bombed Keuea village, the second village from the North and in process killed 48 innocent Keuea villagers.

On Saturday 27^th August 2022, a high-level delegation led by the Honourable Minister for Information, Communications and Transport (MICT) Honourable Tekeeua Tarati, Minister for Tourism, Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives (MTCIC) Honourable Bootii Nauan and the Minister for Education (MoE) Honourable Alex Teabo joined the people of Keuea to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the bombing of their village in 1942.

It was a sombre occasion as the commemoration began with a march parade by children and adults of Keuea village, followed by a flag raising ceremony and the singing of both the Kiribati national anthem and the Butaritari song.

Also in attendance was US Embassy Suva, Fiji, Chargé d’Affaires Tony Greubel who joined Honourable Tarati and elders of Keuea in placing their wreaths at the commemoration monument.

The event concluded with traditional Kiribati entertainment and a sumptuous island feast prepared by the village.

Remnants of WWll are still visible throughout Butaritari and the Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) is working with local authorities and international partners to preserve and promote the island for battlefield tours.

The Battle of Tarawa was one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific during WWII. Fought between 20 – 24 November 1943 between the American marines and Japanese soldiers, this significant event in Kiribati’s history claimed a total of 1,113 US marines, and 4,690 Japanese soldiers and Korean labourers.

Remnants of this event are still visible throughout Betio island, South Tarawa and can now be enjoyed by travellers through organised tours, now that Kiribati’s international border are open.

On 11 August 2022, US Embassy, Suva, Fiji dignitaries, led by Chargé d’Affaires Tony Greubel were amongst the first group of international visitors to enjoy a fully guided tour of the WWll relics and monuments on Betio.

The tour coordinated by a local inbound tour operator Kiribati Holidays. Tour guide Ms. Toka Rakobu provided the group detailed history on the battle of Tarawa, battlefield relics and the group paid their respects to their fallen Marines at the US Marines memorial at the Sports Complex.

Click here for more information on Battlefield Tours

Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) Senior Tourism Marketing and Promotion Officer Ms Sarah Botaake Teetu participated in a Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) short course. Titled ‘Embracing Digital Transformation for Tourism in the New-Norm’ – Strategies in Developing and Managing Sustainable Muslim Friendly Destinations and Product, the vitual training was held on 22 – 30 August 2022.

The training also presented Ms. Teetu the opportunity to conduct destination presentation to participants from the Africa, Arab and Asian nations.

Ms Teetu seized the opportunity to better understand digital opportunity for tourism destination management and explore Malaysia’s niche tourism segments. The programme also discussed the rise of millennial travel and how to better understand and accommodate their needs through digital marketing.

Participants also used the opportunity to learn basic Malaysian language and participated in a virtual tour of the Melaka River, a prominent Malaysian attraction.

The training concluded with discussions on critical success factors in ensuring smooth and successful transformation toward digitalisation from tourism perspectives and initiative to enhance tourism sector in the new norm through digitalisation.

Hawaii’s East West Centre has over the years hosted a number of Kiribati tourism young professionals in its Tourism Professional Fellow program. Conducted on cohorts of up to 20 participants, the program included leadership and mentorship program across various tourism related sectors in Hawaii and a 1-week global conference in Washington DC, USA.

Pro-fellows alumni in Tarawa met with US Embassy Press & Media Coordinator and former Fiji US Alumni (FUSA) President, Miss Maggie Boyle to discuss the establishment of a Kiribati US Alumni chapter.

Ms Boyle shared her experiences of what an alumni could achieve and the support mechanisms in place to help Kiribati US Alumni create a positive impact in their respective professional environment and communities.

There are over 80 US Alumni in Kiribati and the Tourism Pro-fellows hopes to reach out to each one of them to begin discussions on how their US professional development experiences can be best utilised to benefit local communities.