Marketing – Kaongora Newsletter

Tourism Authority of Kiribati Showcases ‘Come Visit Kiribati’ at South Pacific Tourism Exchange 2024

May 14, 2024 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) is happy to announce that its Tourism Marketing team has just returned from participating at the South Pacific Tourism Exchange 2024 (SPTE2024) that took place on the 4th-5th May at Denarau, Sheraton Resort in Nadi, Fiji.

The SPTE2024 is a prestigious tourism trade meeting event (B2B) held annually and is organized by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) to present a cost-effective platform for its Pacific Island partners to travel from all corners of the Pacific to meet at one location to exchange their exciting tourism products with international buyers from across the globe who are made up of international travel agents and tour operators who are also seeking and exploring new travel holiday products to promote with their clients in their foreign countries.

The Senior Marketing Officer from TAK, Mr. George Kum Kee indicated that at SPTE2024 the TAK Marketing team engaged with 59 travel industry professionals, tour operators, and media representatives to promote the country’s unique tourism offerings. The trade networking was held in 15-minute meeting intervals which were considerably very brief meeting encounters, however, most of the work will come after the SPTE event with a series of follow-throughs to provide the buyers with a Kiribati tourism destination information e-kit. The officer added that through networking events, business appointments, and destination presentations, Kiribati aims to increase awareness of its tourism potential and attract more visitors to its shores.

George emphasized that Kiribati’s presence at this prestigious event underscores its commitment to fostering sustainable tourism growth and highlighting the promotion Kiribati’s niche tourism attractions. He added that, apart from the natural beauty of Sun, Sea & Sand that we all share similarly with our neighboring Pacific Islands, Kiribati participated in promoting its niche tourism experiences such as authentic cultural experiences through cultural community-based tourism activities, world-class fishing in Kiritimati Island, Scuba diving in Kiritimati Island, Birdwatching & wildlife tourism, and surfing Kiritimati & Fanning Island. The team shared the notion with the buyers that tourism in Kiribati is for specific travellers seeking off-the-beat & path adventure and authentic experiences like cultural encounters and experiencing aquatic marine activities. TAK therefore looks to forge new partnerships after this SPTE and looks forward to welcoming more visitors to Kiribati.

With its participation in the South Pacific Tourism Exchange 2024, the Tourism Authority of Kiribati aims to position the country as a must-visit destination in the South Pacific, inviting travellers to discover the magic of Kiribati’s islands and create lifelong memorable experiences.

Rebranding of Destination Kiribati

March 14, 2024 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati has taken a big step this year to work towards building a new brand for Kiribati to change its current existing brand “Kiribati for Travellers.” The current destination brand was created in 2010 by the Kiribati National Tourism Office now TAK. The branding will be a key priority for TAK and it will work towards providing Kiribati with a new refreshed and exciting brand for the destination.

The purpose behind the rebranding is to ultimately give Kiribati a destination brand that resonates with the Kiribati people and their values, and it is aligned to key policies & strategies such as the Kiribati Vision 20 (KV20), the Kiribati Sustainable Tourism Policy (KSTP) and TAK’s Strategic Plan.

TAK has already begun its first phase of the branding by conducting a series of consultations with local stakeholders (Local Tourism Operators, Government, and NGOs) which were conducted in the capital South Tarawa, and North Tarawa from the 4th to 11th of March whilst consultations on Kiritimati Island were also conducted from the 11th to 13th of March. The consultations were conducted with the expertise of Mr. Carl Solomon from Destination Marketing Store (DMS) who is working with TAK to develop the Market Analysis to build towards creating a Kiribati Branding Strategy.

This Rebranding project is funded through PSDI (Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative) a regional technical assistance program undertaken in partnership with the Government of Australia, the Government of New Zealand, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

TAK benefits from JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program

March 1, 2023February 28, 2023 by Taare Rikiai

Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) Tourism Officer Marketing & Promotion Ms. Maaba Katirite participated at the Knowledge Co-Creation Program on ‘Tourism Marketing and Promotion for the New Normal’ in Tokyo Japan from 20 January – 08 February 2023.

Organized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and World Business Association, the Japan in-country program was a follow up to the online training component of the program that took place in November 2022. The four weeks online training had focused on theoretical lessons on tourism products and services delivered by different tourism organization in Japan. Participants were invited to apply similar concepts that best suited their respective destinations.

Ms. Katirite joined participants from Europe, Africa, Caribbean, and the Pacific at the three weeks training program offered in Japan. Through this in-country program, she experienced a number of Japanese tourism products including the Resort Workation Prince Hotel, Auto Camping sites, Matsumoto-ro Hotel, Glamping Site, Geo Park Museum, Peninsula Geopark Site, and the National Museum of Japan.

Through these experiences, Ms. Katirite boarded her understanding on TAK had tourism businesses, their marketing strategies, targets market, customer inclusiveness and how they dealt with COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms. Katirite will share her experiences with local tourism operators and provide support to those that require support with product development, marketing and promotion.

TAK Acknowledges Kiribati Tourism Social Super Stars

September 27, 2022 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) celebrated World Tourism Day 2022 yesterday with an appreciation event to acknowledge the contributions of a group of Kiribati Tourism Social Super Stars to Kiribati destination promotion.

Hosted at the TAK office in Takoronga, Betio, the Kiribati Tourism Social Super Stars were identified through their active engagement in promoting different aspects of the Kiribati experience through their social media platforms.

This initiative to acknowledge Kiribati Tourism Social Super Stars draws from the UNWTO World Tourism Day 2022 theme of ‘Rethinking Tourism’. TAK recognises that each I-Kiribati or an individual who has experienced Kiribati is a storyteller in one way or another and by sharing their experiences can help create awareness on Kiribati as a unique tourism destination.

The four (4) Kiribati Tourism Social Super Stars recognised at yesterday’s event included Air Kiribati Twin Otter Captain Ms. Salote Mataitini (Twitter @mytagimoucia), Kaara Baretaki Kannangaki (TikTok @tinanteree82), Raimon Kataotao (Instagram @kataotao) and the administrators of Humans of Kiribati Facebook and Instagram pages. Each were awarded with an appreciation certificate from the TAK Board of Directors Chairman, Mr. Tabotabo Auatabu.

The celebration also included the acknowledgement of the TAK Marketing Division who welcomed their 10,000^th follower on the official Visit Kiribati Facebook page.

In line with the theme of ‘Rethinking Tourism’, TAK encourages stakeholders and communities to recognise that tourism is everyone’s business and hopes to welcome more Kiribati Tourism Social Super Stars in the future.

Kiribati Tourism Destination Song

August 27, 2021 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) has launched the Kiribati Tourism Destination Song Competition 2021, an initiative targeted to invite local artists, musicians, and choir associations to compose an original song.

There are two song categories. One is for modern contemporary with a blend Kiribati Island beat or chant. The other one will be for a more traditional song using a serenading group or choir. The two songs must use a mix of both English and Kiribati language.

Song submissions will go through a thorough selection process by TAK and five best songs will be selected to go through the final selection by the judges. The winning composers for the two song categories will be invited to sing and showcase their winning song during the World Tourism Day on 27 September 2021.

TAK encourages submissions to highlight the unique features of Kiribati and must be 3 minutes or longer.

TAK Head of Marketing, Mrs. Sarah Reymond shares that this will be the first time for TAK to run such a destination marketing song competition and that it will be an important part to Kiribati’s tourism restart program.

All submissions are due at TAK Kiritimati or Tarawa by 20 September 2021.

South Tarawa Marketing Consultation

March 22, 2021March 19, 2021 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) conducted its first marketing consultation with South Tarawa Operators on Thursday 11 March 2021.

The consultation is part of the TAK’s Recovery Marketing Plan development program and was also an opportunity to gather updated product information and discuss issues that are important to operators during these challenging times.

Feedback received from the consultation included the positive impact the Mauri Experience campaign has had in stimulating demand in the local market. Operators acknowledged that it (campaign) continues to create awareness on their special offers and generate bookings to their properties.

Through this consultation, TAK has also identified some immediate training and marketing needs for select operators and actions are being taken to address them.

The consultations also gave TAK the opportunity to discuss the training component for the Kiribati Tourism & Hospitality Protocols for the New Normal and its reset program. This will play an integral part in preparing the tourism industry for when the Government of Kiribati approves border reopening.

TAK will continue its marketing consultations in Kiritimati and the outer islands before developing and implementing its Recovery Marketing Plan.

MAURI EXPERIENCE – SUPPORT LOCAL

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 by George Kumkee

19 November 2020

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) and Kiribati tourism business operators today launched the Mauri Experience – Support Local campaign, an initiative targeted to help promote tourism businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since the international border closure in late March 2020, Kiribati tourism business operators have been negatively impacted due to the drop of international visitors. This has seen some operators suspending or minimising their offers to suit the low demand in their services.

More than 6 months on and with no confirmed end in sight for this global pandemic, TAK will through this campaign will promote special hotel, restaurant and activity deals and packages available from tourism businesses across Kiribati.

TAK Head of Marketing, Ms. Sarah Teetu shares that “Mauri Experience is a call to the local market to explore the diverse tourist experiences available across the Gilbert and Line Islands”. She added that the campaign is an invitation to travel and support domestic tourism and the Mauri Experience deals will include discounted accommodation rates, special menu deals, happy hour prices, special outer island boat transfer rates and many more.

The campaign will be run via a numerous channel including social media, electronic direct mails, newspaper advertisements, mobile SMS texts, radio, and television. This includes a Mauri Experience Facebook page where deals and special offers will be regularly updated.

First Virtual Tourism Digital Workshop for Kiribati

April 29, 2020 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) in partnership with the Pacific Trade and Invest (PTI) Australia and World Hotel Link (WHL) hosted the country’s first ever Virtual Digital Tourism Workshop on the 28 April 2020. The half day webinar was attended by tourism operators from Tarawa, Abaiang and Kiritimati and was hosted at the Vodafone boardroom in Bairiki.

The webinar is part of the TAK’s capacity building initiative for industry partners and stakeholders during this COVID-19 pandemic.

The aim of the webinar was to offer training on effective website management and how such a tool can be better used to improve sales and profitability. Topics of this online session included the importance of knowing the online buying cycle, critical functionality/features of a website to boost sales and revenue and booking engine management.

Attendees appreciated the relevance of the webinar and acknowledged that it will add value to their respective organisations.

Through the webinar, PTI also reconfirmed its COVID-19 digital marketing relief package which includes the complimentary development of new business websites for tourism operators currently without one and a discounted monthly website maintenance fees for operators whose websites were developed by WHL.

TAK will roll out other capacity building programs to help upskill industry partners during this current global pandemic.

TAK attends the National Trade Show

October 30, 2019 by Taare Rikiai

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati was fortunate to be part of the National Trade Show held on the 26^th -27^th September 2019. During the first day of the event, two staff from the Tourism Authority of Kiribati able to meet with the exhibitors to get to know their business and products, discuss on opportunities where TAK could assist on especially in the promotion and marketing of their local made products varies from handicrafts, Mauri wear, local food and garment products that could form part of the unique souvenirs which the tourists could buy as take away gifts or souvenirs from Kiribati.

There were 27 exhibitors altogether which TAK was privileged to meet and build network with. During the discussion, TAK encouraged the local handicraft makers and the rest of the exhibitors to keep continuing what they do, to come up with innovative ideas that could enhance the quality of their local made products to attract the tourists to take them as souvenir upon leaving Kiribati. TAK affirms the exhibitors that it is ready to continue promoting the handicrafts through it different marketing and promotion means such as social media Facebook page, travel guides and website.

Tourism Authority Kiribati