South Pacific Tourism Organisation

The organisation released its inaugural Pacific Tourism Forecast this week which showed about 40,000 more visitors arrived in the region last year - 38,941 more than 2017.

It attributed the growth to a positive global tourism trend, regional and national tourism marketing, improved connectivity and infrastructure development.

The organisation said it expects tourist numbers will grow by 3.3 percent in 2019 and each year until 2024.

This comes after the first ever United Nations Oceans Conference in New York.

The SPTO said in a statement that it recognizes the significance of the ocean to Pacific tourism.

It points out that tourism is a specific target under the Sustainable Development Goals with the emphasis on the sustainable use of marine resources, including the through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism by 2030.

Organised by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), the region’s peak tourism development and marketing body, the council meeting was attended by tourism ministers and government representatives from 13 Pacific island countries and China.

The new brand draws heavily on Pacific Islands’ cultural elements, in particular weaving. Individual letters in South Pacific Islands and SPTO have been taken apart, then strung back together like the strands in a woven mat. 

This will also assist line ministers, government ministries and authorities, donors and development partners to determine appropriate investments in infrastructure and the necessary upgrades and improvements needed for their cruise strategy.

This was agreed at the Pacific Cruise Strategy Forum organized by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) in Melbourne Australia.