The Tourism Authority of Kiribati (TAK), in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI), has commenced work on the development of Kiribati’s Sustainable Tourism Indicators.
This initiative aims to develop sustainability indicators to measure the impact of tourism in Kiribati, shifting the focus from traditional emphasis on volume to a more holistic understanding of tourism’s benefits and costs. The costs and benefits of tourism experienced by different groups within the tourism sector, including women, youth, and provincial communities, will also be considered.
The project will draw on global and regional best practices and lessons from other small island states. It will also incorporate the views of tourism stakeholders in Kiribati, across government, private sector, NGOs, and donors, including representatives of women in the tourism industry and international tourism experts.
TAK envisages this work to be completed by June 2023 and will set the platform for developing Kiribati Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework and Strategy.
Kiribati became the 11th country to sign the Pacific Leader’s Sustainable Tourism Commitment in October 2022. Since then, it has strengthened its commitment to Sustainable Tourism at the national level by developing its sustainable tourism policy and indicators.
About Kiribati:
Kiribati officially the Republic of Kiribati is an island country in Oceania in the Central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 (2020), more than half of whom live on Tarawa atoll. The state comprises 32 atolls and one remote raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) dispersed over 35,000,000 km2 (14,000,000 sq mi) of ocean.
The islands’ spread straddles the equator and the 180th meridian, although the International Date Line goes around Kiribati and swings far to the east, almost reaching 150°W. This brings Kiribati’s easternmost islands, the southern Line Islands south of Hawaii, into the same day as the Gilbert Islands and places them in the most advanced time zone on Earth: UTC+14.
