Tauranga Vananga Ministry of Cultural Development and Cook Islands Tourism conducted their final round of cultural tour guide workshops on Thursday last week.

The workshops were part of the joint commitments between the two organisations, outlined in their two-year Memorandum of Understanding, Cook Islands Tourism said in a statement.

The workshop opened up with addresses from the paramount chiefs for Vaka Te Au O Tonga who supported the workshop as Karika Ariki emphasised the importance of the consistency and accuracy of stories for tour guides to share with their visitors.

Tauranga Vananga director Ngarangi Tangaroa-Teio shared that this was the final cultural tour guide workshops for Rarotonga with Vaka Takitumu and Vaka Puaikura being held earlier in the year.

Sieni Tiraa, the sustainable tourism manager of Cook Islands Tourism, said: “The Cultural Tour Guide Workshop has helped provide tour operators with information about historical landmarks and their cultural significance across each of the Vaka’s on Rarotonga. These series of workshops have focused on enhancing the cultural knowledge of our local tour guides and contributing to

strengthening the cultural pillar for Sustainable Tourism development.”

“Guest speakers and cultural experts, Makiuti Tongia and Ngarima George presented on the various districts across the Vaka of Te Au O Tonga, which was well received from over fifty tour guides representing the various tour operators on Rarotonga,” Tiraa added.

The workshop consisted of a lecture style workshop with cultural experts sharing their knowledge on the stories connected to the 19 tapere (districts) in Te Au O Tonga.

One of the many outcomes of the workshop included a recommendation to create an information portal containing fact sheets of cultural and historical information that could be easily accessible for tour guides to enhance their knowledge to share with their clients.

Tauranga Vananga and Cook Islands Tourism will announce the cultural workshop for Aitutaki in the coming months.