A training to strengthen the understanding of risks and impacts of climate change in the tourism sector has been applauded by more than 40 participants from ten Pacific islands and Timor-Leste.
The “Enhancing Climate Resilience in Tourism in the Pacific” training, held from 24 January to 18 February 2022, also dealt with Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, adaptation and mitigation options including ecosystem-based approaches, resilient and low-carbon facilities and business risk management, and mainstreaming climate change in the tourism sector.
The eighth executive training programme was virtually delivered by the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) under the PCCC’s Project for Capacity Building on Climate Resilience in the Pacific (CBCRP-PCCC) in partnership with the Pacific Tourism Organisation.
PCCC Manager, Ms 'Ofa Ma’asi-Kaisamy said the training was important and timely.
“The tourism sector is highly vulnerable to external shocks including climate change and most recently COVID 19,” she said.
“The ongoing efforts of the tourism recovery from COVID19 provide further opportunities to strengthen the sector and could be aligned with its responses to climate change. Both the national policies and tourism business strategies should incorporate risk-informed actions and organisational structures across all divisions and employees, and strengthen their implementations.”
One of the important components of the training was the group exercise by each Pacific island. Participants from different organisations worked on problem and objective tree analysis and logical frameworks for developing a project concept to respond to climate change. The exercise was to strengthen the capacity to facilitate collaborative actions among various organisations.
The participants enjoyed the training and they expressed their gratitude for the initiative. Ms Rossy Mitiepo, Director, Niue Meteorological Service said “it was a great experience to spend time to understand the causes and problems with Niue Chamber of Commerce as we have different backgrounds and expertise.”
Mr Alexander Tennekone, Climate Action Officer, Marshall Islands Red Cross Society, also noted the mutual learning among participants. “Interactions were perfect and all related activities made easier for us to comprehend. Please keep doing these types of exercises because it generates a lot of interest among participants.”
The training was delivered by the CBCRP-PCCC in partnership with the Government of Samoa, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
For further information on the training courses delivered through this project, please contact [email protected].
