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Meeting & Conference

TAK participates in Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum on Marine Ecotourism.

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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.

TAK attends International Workshop on Ecotourism for Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) at Manado, Indonesia.

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The Deputy CEO of Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) participated in a two- day workshop on Ecotourism which was conducted on 26-27th October 2019 at Manado, North Sulawesi, Republic of Indonesia. Kiribati was amongst 7 other Archipelagic and Small Island states that took part in the workshop which included Solomon Islands, Fiji, Samoa, Maldives, Seychelles, St Kilda and Indonesia. The workshop was jointly conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Coordinating Ministry of Marine Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and supported by UNDP Indonesia.

The 2-day workshop provided a very interactive platform, where participants engaged in discussions on Ecotourism programs, plannings, developments and management practices. Participants had the honour of learning opportunities, challenges and success stories of Bali tourism, and as well as getting updated on the business model that was adopted for Bali Ecotourism initiatives. Participants were also able to apply the business model based on different case studies and adding value based on their different country contributions.

Kiribati is grateful to be a part of this productive workshop as it not only contributed to capacity building and a great learning experience, but it has engaged broader networking with different tourism stakeholders within Indonesia, and other small island states within the Pacific and beyond.

WASH Workshop in Kiritimati

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A WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)  workshop in Kiritimati island coordinated by UNICEF was conducted at the Village hotel for two days on 11 & 12 November 2019.

The workshop emphasized on the importance of accessing safe drinking water, good and safe sanitation and hygiene. The workshop is part of UNICEF’s training awareness program for the Water and Sanitation project to be implemented on the island and will be funded by the European Union

Participation of TAK Kiritimati in the workshop gave us the opportunity to get a broad understanding of the program and to include it in Tourism awareness and training programs to both schools and accommodation providers in the future.

Kiritimati is a world-class fly-fishing destination and this workshop, and the project will also support tourism development through access to safe fresh water and good sanitation by tourism operators, schools and local communities.

TAK attends 3rd China – Pacific Economic Development and Cooperation Forum

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22 October 2019:

Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) was part of the Kiribati delegation to the 3rd China – Pacific Islands Economic Development and Cooperation Forum held in Apia, Samoa on 21 October 2019.

The delegation was led by the Hon Minister for (MELAD) and included government officials from various ministry’s and the office of the President.

In its submission, TAK recognized the potential that the People’s Republic of China presents for the Kiribati tourism market and the need to raise awareness on tourism investment opportunities across the nation.

TAK attends 3rd China – Pacific Economic Development and Cooperation Forum

Chief Executive Officer, Petero Manufolau used the forum to create awareness on Kiribati’s vision for its tourism sector highlighting that the delivery of Air Kiribati’s Embraer jet aircrafts in December will mean a giant leap forward for the destination.

TAK shared that the sustainable growth of tourism in Kiribati however cannot be realized merely by the increased airline seat capacity from 2020. Other factors such product development, effective marketing and promotion and a China ready approach to human resource development and service delivery play an important role in achieving this.  Most vital to all these is an initial commitment to tourism infrastructure investment that will help pave the way for sustainable tourism growth in Kiribati.

TAK is chair of SIST Tourism Subcommittee

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03 October 2019:
Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) was voted to the chairmanship role of the Small Island States & (SIST) Tourism Subcommittee at the Pacific Tourism Organisation (formerly the South Pacific Tourism Organisation) Board of Directors meeting in Niue on Thursday 03 October 2019.

Members of SIST includes American Samoa, Niue, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Kiribati, Tokelau and Wallis & Futuna.

The primary role of the subcommittee is to champion the tourism development priorities of the SIST’s within PTO as most of them fall into the lower end of the tourism spectrum in the Pacific.

 

TAK is chair of SIST Tourism Subcommittee

Tourism Authority of Kiribati

The SIST subcommittee meeting noted transport/connectivity, capacity building, planning, proposal writing, contract writing, business writing, information sharing and climate change adaptation & resilience as the key tourism development priorities for its members.

The Pacific Island Forum Leaders Conference in Tuvalu listed climate change, air and sea transportation, health & marine as their key priorities for the region. Whilst tourism was not specifically identified as a priority area, SIST acknowledged that tourism cuts through these 4 priority areas. It therefore believes that there is a need for stronger push for tourism and has tasked the PTO secretariat to find more information of SIS Development Fund and SIS Roadmap for Accelerating Development.

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati’s engagement in such an important working committee reflects its mission of becoming an active partner to tourism development in the Pacific

Working Committee to look after the maintenance and beautification of WWII relics on Betio, Tarawa.

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The WWII relics Working Committee comprising of representatives from various stakeholders of relevant Ministries and organizations via Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy, Ministry of Information, Communications and Tourism Development, Office of Te Beretitenti, the Betio Town Council and the Red Cross  has recently been set up by the Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) to look after and manage the maintenance and beautification of all key WWII Relics that can be seen on Betio.

The Working Committee held its first meeting on Friday, 13th September 2019 at the Ministry of Information, Communications and Tourism Development where they discussed and brainstormed ideas on how the current state of these WWII relics can be maintained in order to be more sustainable in future for incoming travelers interested in visiting these historical sites. The committee also had an opportunity as part of the meeting to do the sites visit to get a firsthand experience and observations on the current issues relating to these WWII relics and to come up with ideas and recommendations that would help solve these issues.

Working Committee to look after the maintenance and beautification of WWII relics on Betio, Tarawa

Among the issues discussed at the meeting that was considered a priority was the need to get cabinet’s clarifications on who has the ownership and guardianship of all these WWII relics. Once this has been cleared, the next important step for the committee would be to convene its next meeting and start working on the issues and recommendations as identified following the sites visit for the maintenance and beautification of all these WWII relics.

TAK presents at Culture Workshop

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The Ministry of Internal Affairs through its Culture & Museum Division held its workshop with the Island Development Officers (IDOs) on Friday 15th August 2019. The main aim of the workshop was to inform and clarify more on the roles of the IDOs as their job description was now extended to providing tour guiding services to the visitors to their islands they worked on.

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) was invited to the workshop to deliver a presentation on Tour Guiding processes. Ms. Ereata Benson, Senior Officer, Training, Development and Special Project Unit of TAK attended the workshop and provided further clarity on the importance of the tour guiding and the tour guide’s main roles and responsibilities.

Since the workshop was meant to equip the IDOs with knowledge and skills of a tour guide, the presentation highlighted why tour guides are important in creating quality experiences for visitors to their islands.

The workshop also highlighted the linkages between the Culture & Museum Division and the Tourism Authority of Kiribati, especially the need to fulfil the goals and objectives of the Kiribati Vision for 20 Years (KV20) where Tourism Authority of Kiribati is obliged to support activities related to cultural tourism.

TAK joins Kiritimati Solid Waste Management Subcommittee

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Photo Credit (https://www.iloveqatar.net/recycling-in-qatar)

The Wildlife & Conservation Unit in partnership with the Solid Waste Management Project Office in Kiritimati conducted a meeting to discuss solid waste management challenges in Kiritimati on Tuesday 13th of August 2019 at the Solid Waste Management Coordinator office

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK) and Kiritimati Urban Council (KUC) are the two key waste management players that were invited to this special meeting to discuss the possibility to establish a subcommittee with the aim to provide advice to the mother committee ways to address illegal waste dumping or waste disposal on the island.

Since Tourism is a prioritized sector under KV20 and Kiritimati island is a world-class fly-fishing destination, TAK was also invited to assist in formulating activities related to sustainable tourism on the island. These include tourism awareness programs such as roadshows, awareness signboards and community consultations.

LDCF-(I) Project, Stakeholders meet in North Tarawa to complete the translation of all the Island Strategic for Abemama, Maiana and Nonouti

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A team of twenty-five (25) government officers has visited Buariki on a weekend from 9th -11th August 2019 for retreat to carry out the translation on all the Island Strategic Plans (ISP) for the pilot islands of LDCF-I project which are Maiana, Abemama and Nonouti.

The retreat was coordinated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) through the Local Government Division (LGD). The team comprised of twelve (12) government ministries including, the PSPSM – Public Service Performance and Service Management Division – PSO, KiLGA – the Kiribati Local Government Association, Ministry of Education, Fisheries Division, Culture and Museum, Environment and Conservation Division, Agriculture and Livestock Division, Kiribati National Tourism Office, Ministry of Commerce and Industrial Cooperatives, Ministry of Infrastructure and Sustainable Energy, Ministry of Women, Youth, Sport & Social Affairs and Kiribati Police Services.

LDCF-(I) Project, Stakeholders meet in North Tarawa to complete the translation of all the Island Strategic for Abemama, Maiana and Nonouti

The objective of the retreat is to gather the key technical staffs from concerned Ministries to assist in translating contents of the ISP from Kiribati to English which are relevant to their areas of work so the ISP can be published into both languages that is in English and in vernacular for Kiribati people. It also to attract more external donors to assist on the issues that had been identified to threaten food security on Maiana, Abemama and Nonouti.

A small closing was done on Saturday afternoon to earmark the completion of the ISP translation with the indoor and outdoor games among the participants and then followed by a dinner. The team returned on a Sunday morning on 11th August 2019. The LGD-MIA is now in the plan to finalize and publish the ISP into the English and the vernacular language and it is expected to be published before end of this year and then launch to the island councils of Maiana, Abemama and Nonouti for implementation.

The retreat was supported by the Kiribati LDCF I Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility and implemented under the Environment and Conservation Division with the support of the United Nations Development Programme.

The Tourism Authority of Kiribati is responsible for working with our partners to encourage travelers to come to Kiribati and spend time exploring our country.

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