Awareness

The beauty and cleanliness of the natural environment and its historical landmarks is one of the many influences for travel to a destination. In recognition of this, the Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) celebrated its 2^nd anniversary through a collaborating with the Betio Town Council (BTC) and its communities to conduct a Betio island-wide clean-up of all World War 2 relics in June.

The initiative offered Betio communities a sense of guardianship of these WWll 2 relics and encouraged them to understand the value of maintaining cleanliness of their environment and preserving what remains of an integral part of the island’s history.

Three communities were engaged in this activity over a 4-week period. Each developed their own program and schedule and was supported by TAK through the supply cleaning materials and refreshments.

The program concluded with an inspection of all sites by TAK and BTC on 10 June 2021 to select the most presentable site. The program was also supported by the Environment and Conservation Division (ECD) under Ministry of Environment Lands and Agricultural Development (MELAD) and Betio Island Council.

TAK recognises that such a program is crucial to the development of sustainable tourism across Kiribati and that it is aligned to the destination’s tourism recovery strategy.

The Government of Kiribati (GoK), through the Ministry of Health and Medical Services’ (MHMS) Public Health Infectious Disease regulation (regulation 17 & 22) issued a curfew order for South Tarawa and Betio effective from Thursday 20 May 2021. The curfew is effective from 9pm – 6am daily and will remain until further order is issued by GoK. This comes after Kiribati registered its first 2 cases of Covid-19 in quarantine earlier this week.

The order requires that all persons must remain at their home of residence from 9pm to 6am daily. This means that activities like night fishing, and social gatherings are prohibited, and Kava bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and bingo centres will be closed. Only persons seeking medical, police or fire emergency services will be excused from movement within the curfew hours. All Church leaders have also been advised to plan for their church services/ prayers and to ensure that they comply with all social distancing requirements.

All arms of government (government agencies) and private businesses have been instructed to maintain their operations as usual outside of the curfew hours and to avoid restrictions on sale of goods that would cause the public to panic. Only essentials service providers are allowed to operate during the curfew hours with prior approval from the Office of the Beretitenti (OB) through the Kiribati Police Service.

AII travels from South Tarawa and Betio to the outer islands and vice versa are currently suspended. Only goods, fuels, medicines, and patients’ referrals will be allowed. Travels other than those mentioned here will require the approval of the Secretary of the OB.

The curfew order does not impact the Tourism Authority of Kiribati’s (TAK) daily operational hours and tourism business operators in the affected areas are encouraged to contact TAK should they require clarification on the curfew order. All planned TAK events are currently suspended until further notice.

The Tourism  Authority of Kiribati Islands (TAK) led a Betio beach clean-up at the Takoronga Dai Nippon Causeway with representatives from the Ministry of Information, Communication, Transport & Tourism Development (MICTTD) and the Kiribati Islands Conservation Society (KICS) on Friday 07 May 2021.

KICS is a non-government organisation with the vision that all I-Kiribati live in a clean and healthy environment where natural resources and unique cultures are preserved and protected. It works with communities to help enhance the natural environment of Kiribati.

The clean-up was part of TAk’s contribution and support for the Environment Conservation Division’s (ECD) Betio Anti-Litter Enforcement May 2021 Campaign.

Whilst plastic waste washing up on Betio’s white sandy beaches continue to be an eyesore, TAK believes that such a waste also poses a threat to the marine species and organisms that inhabit our beaches and coastline. TAK is therefore committed to supporting the ECD, relevant stakeholders and communities to improve solid waste management practices in Kiribati and to ultimately improve international visitor experiences through clean and pristine natural environment.

A total of 37 bags of plastic waste were collected from the 1-hour beach clean-up and participants were treated to refreshments compliments of KICS.

TAK plans to continue to organise similar clean ups in areas of visitor appeal and welcomes the support of organisation and communities who share in the same vision of a cleaner Kiribati.

Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) commenced its Primary Schools Tourism Awareness program on South Tarawa and Betio from 19 April 2021. This program will run through to 05 May and targets Year 6 students.

The goal of the program is to provide students with an understanding of tourism, its benefits on the economy and community and the potential careers opportunities that exist in the industry.

Whilst tourism is not part of the year 6 syllabus, TAK’s School Tourism Awareness program helps enrich and enhance children’s understanding of tourism and provides them with valuable information on the potential it has to contribute to development in Kiribati.

The program also included the distribution of Tourism Careers posters.

Bikenibeu West Primary School teacher Mrs Kaetieti Iotua commented that such a program is important for students at this level to better their understanding on tourism and its potential. She added the posters will be put up on the wall to remind children of the many opportunities that exist in the tourism industry.

TAK is grateful to the Ministry of Education (MoE) for endorsing this program and looks forward reaching out to all primary schools across the country.