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SPTO Board of Directors Trained on Good Governance and Effective Directors Program.

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The Officer in Charge, Tourism Authority of Kiribati participated in a 2 -day course on Governance Training – Effective Directors Program with the Governance Institute of Australia from 12-13th May 2025 held at the Crown Plaza, Nadi in Fiji.

Ms. Reeti Onorio, the OIC, TAK was amongst the Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) Board of Directors and SPTO Management team who participated in the 2 days intense face to face training program. Day one was focused on Core functions of the Board and Director Dynamics including how best directors can communicate. The second day was more practical and involved the role play of the Directors in a real-life Board meeting setting.

The P4A partnered with the Governance Institute of Australia to deliver the Effective Directors training by providing practical tools and tips in building high-performing boards. Governance is key to a resilient tourism sector and the Board plays an integral part in guiding and promoting organizational culture and sustainable governance to achieve business objectives.

This training provided was a good opportunity for Pacific tourism leaders to effectively improve their Board meeting deliveries in their respective countries. As a Secretariat to the TAK Board of Directors, the course allows me to learn effective ways to better understand my Secretariat role and the role of my management team to be better prepared for Board meetings, says the OIC, Reeti Onorio.

At the end of the course, each participant was awarded a certificate of competition.

Sustainable Tourism Model, Gender Equality and High-Level Priorities Discussed at SPTO Board Workshop

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The Officer in Charge of Tourism Authority of Kiribati, Ms Reeti Onorio participated in the Sustainable Tourism Board Workshop held at the Crown Plaza Resort, Wailoaloa Nadi, Fiji on 7th May 2025.

The workshop was organized by the Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) and gathered SPTO Board of Directors to present them with the overarching vision of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework (PSTPF) and progress updates of existing projects under the Sustainable Tourism division of SPTO.

2 leading regional projects’ updates were made at the workshop:

1) Development of a tourism model for the South Pacific- presentations of outcomes from the Linkage Project done by Griffith University. The presentations provided evidence-based perspectives on how we as a region can reshape our tourism approach to maximize benefits for communities and natural heritage.
2) Gender Audit Regional Synthesis Report Presentation and updates reflecting on sustainability linkages with inclusivity. Kiribati is one of the 4 countries that are piloted for this project and the project aims to delve into regional insights and collective efforts towards greater gender equality within the tourism sector.

The second part of the workshop was the discussion of tangible pathways for action that are progressing towards 2030. The Board Directors and participants at the workshop were given the opportunity to discuss the mid -term review and collaborate on high level priorities for 2026-2030.

It was a great opportunity to get together as a region and as Board Directors to discuss our common challenges as well as collective efforts to accelerate and prioritize responsible tourism across the Pacific.

Kiribati elected to Chair Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO)

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The Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK), Petero Manufolau was appointed Chair to the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) Board of Directors at its bi-annual meeting on Wednesday May, 25th 2022.

In acknowledging the selection by the SPTO Board, Manufolau noted the importance of the opportunity, especially for a Small Island State like Kiribati.

“Though we are a small island state with a minute contribution to regional tourism, rest assured that we are determined to work collaboratively and innovatively with SPTO, its membership and key stakeholders to ensure sustainable, resilient, inclusive and prosperous tourism reactivation in the Pacific”.

TAK is grateful for this opportunity to serve regional tourism as Chair of the SPTO Board and will work with SPTO CEO, secretariat and members to advance the region’s post COVID-19 recovery and promote sustainable tourism development in the Pacific.

Pacific Tourism Statistics Assessment PARIS21 – SPTO collaboration on the preparation of Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy 2020 – 2024

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The South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO), Paris 21 and the TAK met with various Government offices and a private sector business from October 21st – 23rd to discuss statistics and data related issues and concerns on tourism as part of the project on “Pacific Tourism Statistics Assessment, a collaboration between SPTO, Paris 21 and member countries.

Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) promotes the better use and management of statistics throughout the developing world.

The assessment will involve site visits in only six of the fifteen selected case study Pacific Island countries (PICs) from October to December. The countries to be visited are Fiji, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, Niue and Tonga. For the other PICs, desk research and interviews by Skype and phone calls will be conducted. Countries were selected based on a fair representation of the Pacific Islands sub-regions of Melanesia, Polynesia, and Micronesia as well as the different market segments, source markets, depth of tourism statistics development and the number of arrivals.

Pacific Tourism Statistics Assessment PARIS21 - SPTO collaboration on the preparation of Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy 2020 - 2024

Mr. Mark Lound, a Regional Consultant on Tourism Statistics engaged by Paris21 and Mr. Kotoyawa Tamani, SPTO Tourism Officer, met with the Immigration Office, National Statistics Office, National Economic Planning Office, Climate Finance Division, Coastal Fisheries Division, Tobaraoi, LINNIX, Education, Environment Conservation Division, Public Health Division and Customs.

The results of the assessment will inform the design of the regional tourism statistics strategy that would align with the development priorities on tourism in the region as articulated in the Strategic Plan 2020-2024 and will support the data needs of the strategy.

The overall objective of the project is to design a regional strategy for the strengthening of tourism statistics in the Pacific to align with the policy priorities on tourism in the region and support data needs of the SPTO’s  2020-2024 Strategic Plan. This assessment report on tourism statistics in the Pacific is expected to be completed in March 2020.