Social Media Campaign on Sustainable Tourism Development

SPTO Social Media Campaign on Sustainable Tourism Development Rewards Staff

26 March 2018, Suva, Fiji - In an effort to raise awareness about sustainable tourism and its importance amongst its staff, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation recently concluded its ‘Be the Change’ challenge which was a three-month campaign targeting the use of Social Media.

Over the months of September to December 2017, staff of the regional organization mandated to market and develop tourism in the Pacific were required to upload posts on their personal Social Media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc, with messages on the theme ‘Sustainable tourism as a tool for development to benefit the Pacific’.

SPTO’s internal Green Committee had developed a criteria against which to rate the quality of posts received. This included the highest number of posts, likes, shares, comments, reposts/retweets, the quality in terms of accuracy and relevance, coverage of sustainability pillars (economic, environmental and socio-cultural) and the selection and range of images used. Staff members uploaded posts that highlighted Culture Tourism, Food Tourism, Heritage Tourism, Agri-Tourism, Marine Tourism and Private Sector Development across SPTO’s member countries, to name a few.

The overall winner of the ‘Be the Change’ Challenge was Ms. Fane Dinono, SPTO’s Administration Officer whose 7 posts generated 182 Likes and attracted a good number of comments. Ms. Dinono’s prize was a weekend for 2 at the Leleuvia Island Resort which was a wonderful incentive.

“This is a pleasant surprise for me as I really wasn’t expecting this, “said Ms. Dinono.

“Sustainable tourism is a concept that I don’t come across very often as my daily work is more admin-related so my rookie posts were really to share the message of what I understood sustainable tourism to be and also just sharing the importance of preserving our environment”, she added.

Ms. Mabel Velia, SPTO’s Receptionist, won the prize for the winning post which highlighted the role of Marine Protected Areas and the importance of protecting and preserving our marine life. Ms. Velia won a free spa at U-Sabai Thai Traditional Spa & Message on Pender Street.

Other staff won Commendation and Consolation prizes as well as a reward for their participation and importantly the initiative to share the important message of environment protection, conservation, preservation and the sustainability of the Pacific’s tourism industry.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of knowledge on sustainable tourism matters and its importance, particularly amongst our Admin staff who are usually in the office and whose jobs do not require attendance at meetings where these matters would be discussed”, said SPTO CEO Christopher Cocker.

“Sustainable Tourism Development is an important area of SPTO’s work programme and it is encouraging to see the high interest of staff in this space as we all play a key role in sharing the message of sustainability”, he added.

“Our Green Committee was also fortunate to have some great prizes for the campaign and I thank the sponsors, Leleuvia Island Resort and U-Sabai Thai Massage and Spa for coming forward to reward staff efforts and initiative in this area”.

Such campaigns are part of SPTO’s strategy to develop the knowledge of its staff in key areas relating to their work programmes and will continue to be a part of internal capacity building going forward.

ENDS-

About SPTO

Established in 1983 as the Tourism Council of the South Pacific, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) is the mandated organisation representing Tourism in the region. Its 18 Government members are American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia,

Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Marshall Islands, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and the People’s Republic of China. In addition to government members, the South Pacific Tourism Organisation enlists a private sector membership base.

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