South Pacific Tourism

On Monday, tourism in the region received a boost with an economic-resilience grant of almost $US20,000 from the United States.

Accepting the donation, head of the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) Chris Cocker said the funds can help implement effective responses to the industry.

Cocker said the grant will also strengthen the islands' tourism connections with the US market.

Pacific economies are reeling from the impact of around US$1.9 billion in losses from Covid-19 border shutdowns.

Chris Cocker said the industry has had a wake-up call on the need to think of other revenue streams, and the new global demand for sustainability.

He said the Pacific tourism sector has been turned on its head by the pandemic, and will never be the same.

"We are going to move towards most likely green tourism and sustainable tourism because we have seen the oneness that Covid-19, in positive way, has done to our enviroment."

This week and next a series of one-day business-to-business meetings are being held in Barcelona, Milan, Prague, Zurich and Manchester.

On 25 February, a separate consumer event is also being held in Malmo, Sweden with 33 companies including airlines, cruise operators, tourism offices and hotels from Fiji, the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tahiti and Vanuatu expected to advertise their wares.

RNZ reports these events lead up to South Pacific's participation in the largest consumer and travel trade show in Berlin in early March.