Pacific Tourism Organisation Team up with the Cook Islands for Data Excellence Workshop

This week, the Pacific Tourism Organisation has teamed up with the Cook Islands Tourism Corporation to conduct a week-long in-country training focused on data initiatives and the Digital Measurement and Benchmarking Dashboard under the Pacific Tourism Data Initiative (PTDI) project.

The PTDI project supports evidence-based planning and decision-making. Its components include the creation of a bi-annual International Visitor Survey (IVS), an annual Business Confidence Index (BCI), and an annual Community Attitude Survey (CAS) report. These reports offer crucial insights into community awareness and attitudes toward tourism.

The Cook Islands is among the ten countries (including Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tonga, Kiribati, Timor Leste, and FSM-Yap) under the PTDI project aimed at collecting and analysing tourism data. The Digital Measurement and Benchmarking Dashboard Programme plays a vital role in SPTO’s monitoring and evaluation function, which is carried out in three components and sets standards for marketing and sustainable tourism indicators in the Pacific region.

The inaugural session of the week-long in-country workshop in the Cook Islands drew the participation of twenty individuals.

SPTO Chief Executive Officer Christopher Cocker emphasised that data was the cornerstone for decision-making and developing plans and strategies. The New Zealand Government funds this initiative, which is designed to gather and report on tourism information.

Mr. Cocker said the workshop’s objective was to foster knowledge exchange among participating countries and tourism stakeholders and facilitate the sharing of best practices, lessons learned, and innovative approaches to tourism data collection and analysis.

“These training sessions empower the NTO, statistics team, and other local stakeholders, including government agencies and tourism operators, to actively participate in tourism data collection and management processes,” Mr Cocker mentioned.”

“The initiative strengthens the foundations of tourism data management, positioning the Pacific region for informed and sustainable tourism growth. The collaboration between SPTO, the NTO, government bodies, and industry stakeholders signifies a commitment to advancing the tourism industry in the Pacific for the benefit of all involved.”