The South Pacific Tourism Exchange (SPTE) has heard strong calls for its organising body, the Pacific Tourism Organisation, to remain as an independent body.
Opening SPTE, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) Chair Peter Senmore noted that tourism is technical, fast moving and driven by the private sector.
“To succeed, it needs a specialised navigator. This is why SPTO must remain a standalone agency,” he told delegates.
In 2019 Pacific Island Forum leaders approved a ‘Review of the Regional Architecture’ to assess whether current regional governance arrangements and by extension, regional institutions, effectively support collective priorities. The review has since entered its third phase and will be on the agenda at this year’s leaders’ meeting in Palau.
The review has heard suggestions that some of the smaller agencies, such as SPTO, be folded into larger institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum. Another suggestion is that smaller regional agencies pool or share service such as finance and IT support.
But Senmore and others stress that keeping SPTO independent would enable the retention of technical skills, build long-term resilience and preserve the agility needed to work directly with the private sector.
“We must remove barriers that don’t belong, rather than creating new layers of political bureaucracy. A specialised SPTO ensures that tourism remains a primary pillar of the Blue Pacific, with a dedicated voice that cannot be drowned out by broader geopolitical debates,” he said.
Senmore describes tourism as a ‘team sport’, where public private partnerships are important.
“The tendency is that government wants to run everything and then the private sector is sometimes forgotten about…In the beginning it is contingent on government to lead that process and say, ‘Hey we want tourists, we want to talk.’ I think sometimes there is an assumed antagonistic relationship between the two and I think the government needs to say, ‘We’re here to facilitate.’”
Senmore describes government’s role on the tourism supply side as looking at connectivity, making sure infrastructure is ready to receive guests, firming up aviation deals and then facilitating last mile access to communities where authentic tourism experiences happen. In terms of driving demand, he says governments need to be able to identify market opportunities and promote their destination alongside private firms.
SPTO Chair and Vanuatu Tourism Office CEO Adela Issachar Aru says this week’s exchange is an important platform for business-to-business networking, and that SPTO’s work more broadly has driven reforms and delivered programs that have supported Pacific Island destinations.
“Pacific Tourism Organisation should continue to do what it does best in promoting and developing better tourism for the Pacific,” she added.
