Events

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati office in Kiritimati Island celebrated World Tourism Day for one week from the 21 to 25 September 2020. Part of the one-week program included trainings and awareness programs conducted by Ministry of Commerce & Industry Cooperative (MCIC), Ministry of Women, Youth, Sport & Social Affairs (MWYSSA), and Wildlife.

MCIC & MWYSA conducted trainings on Business Acts and Women empowerment from 21 to 22 September 2020, while a clean-up campaign organized by Wildlife & Conservation Division conducted on 24 September 2020.

Official celebration was held on Friday 25 September at the Millennium maneaba. The program included remarks from Officer in Charge for Line and Phoenix Office Mr. Bwereti Tewareka followed by the award of certificates and reference to the 20 participants of the Business Acts and Women Empowerment trainings and the award for third prize in the National Essay writing competition.

Invited guests included OIC for MLPID, tourism operators and accommodation providers, training participants, participating schools, and markers for essay writing competition, OIC for MHMS, and the WTD committee members.

Kiritimati Island opened its 2nd medical clinic at Banana Village on Friday 17th 2020. This was part of the government project, built to accommodate an increase in population in Banana due to the newly relocated residents.

Banana is located 25km away (approximately 1-hour drive) from the main hospital.  with a growing population, and government sees the need to build another medical clinic to lessen the burden of having to travel long distances to receive medical attention. The clinic is also conveniently located next to Cassidy International airport and close to recreational sites (bird-watching and game fishing grounds.)

The official opening event was attended by the Honorable Minister Mikarite Temari and Mrs Faioa Temari along with the Heads of Departments of the Ministry of Lines, Phoenix Island Development.

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati welcomes this new development in Kiritimati as it believes that it will contribute to making the island tourism ready once international flights resume.

Kiritimati Mini Trade Show is a new program included in this year’s independence celebration in Kiritimati Island, organized by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Cooperation branch in Kiritimati, and supported by the Ministry of Line and Phoenix Islands Development and the Tourism Authority of Kiribati in Kiritimati.

The event was held at the Mini Stadium in Ronton on Friday 10th July 2020 with more than ten vendors participating in selling of their different carved handicrafts, necklaces and bracelets made from shells, local hats, Mauri wear clothes just to name a few. Local produce such as vegetables, plants and fruits were also sold during the trade show. The event also includes a competition of different types of local meal courses provided.

In his opening remarks, Honorable Minister Mikarite Temari relay the importance of culture and how maintaining our traditional knowledge and skills will benefit all of us, socially, culturally and economically and for the future development of tourism in Kiritimati and Kiribati nation at large. He added that the government is supporting this initiative since it is part of the government pillar in its KV20 priorities on tourism development through cultural sustainability.

TAK Kiritimati celebrated its first Anniversary as an authority on the 10th of June 2020 at the Ministry of Lines and Phoenix island common area.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Secretary assured everyone, the full support of the Ministry to sustainable tourism development and that plans had already been in place to address issues and challenges relating to tourism development. He added that littering is one major issue in Kiribati, and this plan or policy was also developed to address this issue.

Officer in Charge for TAK Kiritimati, Mr. Tekonaba Teburea, in his closing remarks, on behalf of the Board, CEO and all TAK staff thanked the government for its continuous support and assistance for the last 12 months. Mr. Teburea also had the opportunity to share with everyone, an overview on what TAK had achieved for this part 12 months.