1. We welcome in a new participant to the Research Community:
- Dr Tracy Berno has been a tourism academic, researcher and consultant for over 15 years. She ahs worked on projects in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, the Marshall Islands, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Dr Berno has recently returned to Lincoln University, New Zealand after heading the Department of Tourism and Hospitality at the University of the South Pacific for close to eight years. Dr Berno has authored, and co- authored numerous reports, journal articles and book chapters.
2. Oceania Sustainable Tourism Alliance.
Following recent meetings in Washington DC with the leaders of Counterpart International, Solimar International and US AID and subsequent to a meeting in Fiji last year with the Foundation of the People of the South Pacific (FSPI), Steve Noakes and Terry de Lacy were invited to attend the annual general meeting of FSPI held on the island if Savaii, Samoa this past week to present ideas for the establishment of a possible new Oceania Sustainable Tourism Alliance, modeled on the US AID sponsored Global Sustainable Tourism Alliance. The concept was well received by the senior NGO representatives from countries throughout the Pacific and now a small working group consisting of Counterpart International, FSPI, Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd and Victoria University will lead further development.
Pictured at the Savaii, Samoa meeting this week: <Lelei Lelaulu, President of Counterpart International & Chairman of the Board, FSPI, Washington DC. Steve Noakes, Pacific Asia Tourism Pty. Ltd., Gold Coast. Rex Horoi, Executive Director, Foundation of the People of the South Pacific International (FSPI), Suva. Prof Terry de Lacy, Victoria University, Melbourne.
3. Real estate driven tourism growth pressures in Kauai, Hawaii.
Before traveling to Samoa, Steve Noakes was invited as keynote speaker at a Greening Kauai Visitor Industry Conference arranged by the Kauai Planning & Action Alliance to offer international perspectives on sustainable tourism. The meeting focused on actions being taken by a number of hospitality businesses to “green” their operations, provide a sense of place, benefit the community, and make a profit. He also took the opportunity to visit colleagues at the University of Hawaii.
Once a scenic view location for bus groups and independent drivers – the vista becoming obscured by new developments on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. (October 2007)
Contributing ideas for sustainable enterprise and destination practices for Kauai at the Hilton Hotel, Kauai, Hawaii. (October 2007)
4. PATA Sustainable Tourism news in Pacific Asia.
Go to www.pata.org/patasite/index.php?id=867 and also note, down the bottom of that page, a link to a range of Resources.
Also note www.PATA.org/ceochallenge if you are interested and available for this Pacific Asia tourism & climate summit in Bangkok, April 29 & 30, 2008
5. World Committee of Tourism Ethics.
Steve Noakes has been invited for appointment by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation as a member of the World Committee on Tourism Ethics for the period 2007 to 2011 – to be ratified at the forthcoming UNWTO General Assembly in Colombia (November 2007)
Contributing ideas for sustainable enterprise and destination practices for Kauai at the Hilton Hotel, Kauai, Hawaii. (October 2007)
6. Tourism – Opening Doors for Woman: World Tourism Day – Sri Lanka, 27 September, 2007
Due to the late arrival of airline tickets, Steve Noakes did not make the connection ex Brisbane/Singapore/Sri Lanka to accept an invitation from the Government of Sri Lanka and UNWTO to participate in World Tourism Day dialogue on MGD 3. Fortunately, Prof Terry de Lacy’s travel plans went more smoothly and on Steve’s behalf, he participated in the think- tank meetings with global leaders on the topic in Sri Lanka, Terry then continued onto the world tourism and climate change summit in Davos, Switzerland as a representative/consultant to the Minister of Tourism, Sri Lanka. (www.unwto.org/climate/index.php)
The Toronto Star ran a story on tourism and gender, referencing Pacific Asia Tourism and our network colleagues at BCTLI, Canada (http://bctli.ca) WWW.THESTAR.COM/ARTICLE/269546
8. New Resources: 2007
Asia-Pacific MDG Progress Report UNESCAP, ADB and UNDP
http://www.unescap.org/stat/nl/nl_Oct2007.asp#Launch_MDG_Report
The Millennium Development Goals: Progress in Asia and the Pacific 2007 report has now been released. This report, which describes the region’s progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), is a joint publication by UNESCAP, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Rating 21 rich countries – A tool for AID effectiveness.
http://www.cgdev.org/section/initiatives/_active/cdi
The Commitment to Development Index (CDI) is a very precise evaluation of aid effectiveness. It rates 21 rich countries on how much they help poor countries to build good government, prosperity and security. Rich and poor countries are linked in various ways: by commerce, the environment, military affairs, migration and foreign aid. Each rich country gets scores in seven policy areas, which are averaged from an overall score. The overall CDI shows the countries commitment to development in the following order (from top to lowest score): Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Germany, France, United States, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, Greece and Japan. They all have been ranked in those seven areas: aid, trade, investment, migration, environment, security, technology. The interactive charts (search by country names or policy components) show the particular strengths and challenges of each country separately in the different rankings.
