Kioa Community Tourism Plan Nears Completion

The Pacific Tourism Organisation’s (SPTO), Division of Sustainable Tourism has concluded a visit to Kioa Island, to engage with the community on the Draft Kioa Community Tourism Plan.

Held from 3^rd – 5^th May, the consultations provided a valuable opportunity to present the draft plan to the Kioa Island Community Organisation (KICO), Island Chiefs, partners and the wider community. The visit also allowed for other related discussions on potential launch dates for the Plan, construction of a village owned guest house, capacity building in tourism and hospitality and other tourism development initiatives.

Following receipt of feedback, the SPTO team is attending to revisions for final review and approval by KICO and the Kioa Island Council. The Plan will be translated into Tuvaluan before an official launch in August.

Division of Sustainable Tourism Manager, Christina Leala Gale, acknowledged the importance of community – level engagement, emphasising in particular the enthusiasm and commitment of KICO.

“As resource owners, local communities play a critical role in tourism. However, tourism earnings often aren’t distributed equitably to benefit communities. As such, we have been privileged to work with the Kioa community through KICO to support the development of the Kioa Community Tourism Plan. This initiative is completely community driven and owned, which has proved to be an extremely valuable learning experience for the community and our team”, she said.

Similarly SPTO Chief Executive Christopher Cocker, acknowledged the need to enhance community engagement in the tourism sector.

“Our Council of Tourism Ministers have endorsed the implementation of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Framework (PSTPF), through the Pacific Leaders Sustainable Tourism Commitment.  With that in mind, community level engagement is all the more important, given goal 2 of the PSTPF which aspires to tourism supporting thriving and inclusive communities”.

“The Kioa Community Tourism Plan, will provide us with valuable learnings to hopefully implement similar initiatives throughout our membership. We look forward to officially launching the plan in August”, said Mr, Cocker.