The newly appointed president of the Cook Islands Tourism Industry Council aims to further develop the tourism sector in the Cook Islands, building upon the progress made since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tere Carr, owner of Lagoon Breeze Villas, was elected the new president of the Tourism Industry Council for 2024-2025 financial year late last month.

She replaced Liana Scott, who had served in the role since 2020 but remains on the executive committee.

Born and raised in Rarotonga, Carr, who is also a land agent and researcher, has been actively involved in advocating for local issues such as water and addressing land concerns.

As a land agent, she deals with land issues for people in Rarotonga as well as the outer islands.

According to Carr, her background in those areas is a significant advantage for leading the sector as president.

Carr and her husband, Mike, a chartered accountant, along with their business partners, own Lagoon Breeze Villas, a medium sized tourist accommodation resort located in Arorangi.

Since Covid-19, they have been directly involved in managing their property with 20 local staff.

“And so, our careers have taken a different turn. We are involved in the tourism industry as a result of Covid and the need to be involved. We’ve been business partners at Lagoon Villas for the past 13 years,” explains Carr.

“As we all know, we had pretty much 22 months off when our country was closed down. So when the country reopened in January, 2022, organisations such as CITIC were involved in working with government agencies, working with airline partners, working with Cook Islands Tourism in managing how to get tourists to come back to the Cook Islands.”

Carr emphasised the obvious fact that the country’s main economic driver was tourism, adding that since Covid-19, Cook Islands’ tourism has transitioned from recovery to a more stable state.

“I’ve only come on board as of last year and seen the hard work that is involved in being part of this group,” she said.

“The members are not paid, so we’re there basically to help our industry members who have paid subscription fees to guide them through this time we’ve had since Covid. We’re now moving into more settled situation with tourism, so there’s been a lot of hard work to get us to now.

“Obviously, with me coming on board, there are some new issues now that the tourism industry will have to tackle, and I guess those will be some of the issues my new committee will be looking to address.

“I’m just grateful to those that have taken on a new challenge for 2024 25 year, we have some work ahead of us.”

Carr expressed her gratitude to the former president Liana Scott “who has been an amazing leader in the sector in the past four years, and as well as the whole tourism industry”.

“I’ll urge those that have been part of this committee to keep it going, and we need to do the same. Do likewise. I’m just happy with the committee we’ve got, and I know they’re all willing to work hard for the benefit of the members.”