Cook Islands Tourism’s transparent, inclusive and practical planning public consultation which explored the challenges and opportunities tourism brings in all areas of wellbeing, drew a good number of community members.

Yesterday’s session focused on tourism and culture, talking about the good and not so good aspects of the industry. This was part of the second round of stakeholder discussions, following initial consultations held by the tourism sector last October.  

“Culture is a very important pillar of society and of wellbeing for our Cook Islands people,” said Karla Eggelton, chief executive officer of Cook Islands Tourism.

“Talking about it in conjunction with tourism and the crossovers they have – and as a nation how we are going to step through this.”

Last year, tourism contributed about $540 million to the economy.

“Business is good, the forecast for 2025 is positive and so we are happy with how we are tracking,” said Eggelton.

“But we know this is a time to talk about what we are going to be looking for in the future. What do we want our destination to be? And more importantly what role do we want tourism to play, in that making sure our people benefit from tourism.”

Eggelton noted the support from Prime Minister Mark Brown at the Head of Ministries meeting yesterday morning for the destination stewardship plan. The initiative will drive the nation’s transition to a destination stewardship model, ensuring tourism continues to deliver long-term benefits for all Cook Islanders while protecting its natural and cultural heritage.

“He said, ‘let’s collaborate’ - we need to work together so that we can get our nation going in one direction.”

Eggelton said this has put a stamp on the work they are wanting to do, signalling that not only does the government want to work with them, but that “the importance is to collaborate and work with our people and our community”.

She said the information presented by participants at the consultations will reflect their work

“We want to be able to hear from you what we need to be doing next.”

Tourism promotes four pillars of well-being to ensure that the industry is successful:

• Environment – protecting our natural assets, making sure that people accept and understand, drive and want tourism.
• Culture – making sure that we look after our culture heritage and making sure that it can live on for our generations.
• Community – making sure that our people are happy with what tourism can bring, engaging local residents in tourism planning, equitable distribution of tourism benefits.
• Economy – ensuring tourism revenue is reinvested in the islands to promote sustainable development, supporting local businesses and creating jobs.

Lead consultant, Dr David Ermen is assisted by project lead Cook Islander Lisa Sadaraka.

“One of the main reasons people travel to the Cook Islands is because of your culture so how do we make sure that the Cook Islands remains a great place for everyone to live, work, and play, and visit?” Dr Ermen asked the participants.

“We’re not just developing tourism for the visitors, but that we’re developing the Cook Islands for Cook Islanders and so that it remains a nice place for people to visit as well … really trying to bring these things into balance.

“We want your voices on where you think tourism and culture intersect and how they can work well together.”

Dr Ermen said the stewardship plan is about fostering all of government approach to development through tourism.

“It’s not developing of tourism; tourism is the tool to achieve outcomes in culture and community, and economy and environment.

“We are using tourism to drive these bigger development outputs.”