www.globalpovertyproject.com

Communique #23

July 2009

OSTA gets message to ADB

OSTA South Pacific Tourism & Climate Change Research Project

An AusAID International Development Research Grant has been awarded for a three

year Pacific Tourism–Climate Adaptation Project (PT - CAP). Initiated via OSTA, it will be led by Victoria University Centre for Tourism and Services Research (CTSR) in collaboration with the University of New South Wales’ Natural Hazards Research

Laboratory and the University of the South Pacific’s Tourism School, together with industry/NGO partners, Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI), South-Pacific.Travel (SPTO), and Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd.

The project aims to develop climate change adaptation policies and strategies to assist

the Pacific Island tourism sector protect and grow local livelihoods.

www.pacificasiatourism.org

International development via sustainable tourism

Lelei Tuisamoa LeLaulu at left with

Sultan Hafeez Rahman, Director

General of the Pacific Department of

the Asian Development Bank and, at

right, Sir Terepai Maoate, Deputy Prime

Minister of the Cook Islands.

http://samoanewsonline.com/viewstory.php?

storyid=7685&edition=1247479200

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been urged to

focus more on the impact of climate change on tourism,

communities and environment in the vulnerable Pacific

region, which contributes the least to climate changing

emissions but suffers the most from its excesses.

The comments were made by Lelei LeLaulu, a member of

the Expert Panel reviewing the Bank’s new strategy for

2010 to 2020 is also a Founding Partner with Pacific Asia

Tourism Pty Ltd of the Oceania Sustainable Tourism

Alliance (OSTA) www.oceaniatourismalliance.net

A sector requiring the Bank’s close focus was tourism,

“the major economic driver” for the Pacific region, which

he asserted, needed to be “climate-proofed”. “UK, US,

Australian and New Zealand tourists take and leave more

cash in the islands of the South Pacific than their

governments give in official development assistance —

so it is important for us to ensure Pacific communities

benefit from these resources,”

Research Questions

Within Pacific Island economies:

1. What is the character of the tourism sector including its backward and forward

linkages into the wider Island economies and global markets and how has it shown

resilience to previous shocks?

2. How might climate change impact upon the tourism sector and local livelihoods?

3. What is the existing policy environment (tourism, climate change, environmental and

disaster management) and how might a policy sciences analysis assist in addressing

the challenge of climate change?

4. What vulnerability/resilience frameworks exist in sustainability science and what are

the most appropriate frameworks for use by the local tourism industry to adapt to

climate change?

Project Method and Research Activities

Step 1: Policy analysis in 10 Pacific Island countries (tentatively including policies in Fiji

Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga,

Tuvalu, and Vanuatu)

Step 2: Develop a vulnerability/resilience framework suitable for the tourism sector

Step 3: Detailed case studies in 3 destinations (tentatively in Samoa, Vanuatu, and Fiji

Western Island Group) commencing with understanding the destinations existing

resilience to change, risk and disasters

Step 4: Apply and modify the vulnerability/resilience framework to the case study

destinations and propose a suite of possible adaptation strategies

Step 5: Policy implications for Pacific Island Countries

For more details, contact Dr. Min Jiang, min.jiang@vu.edu.au

Huene Island , Carteret Atoll, Papua New Guinea, has been bisected by the sea. Photo by Jennifer Redfearn

www.nytimes.com/2009/05/29/world/29refugees.html, March 28, 2009

Vanuatu

www.marineprotectedarea.com.vu

Thailand – South Andaman

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd continues to support the South Andaman Sustainable

Tourism Network. Latest newsletters can be downloaded from: http://www.sacstn.org/pdf/Newsletter_Vol2Issue9_Jul09.pdf and http://www.sacstn.org/pdf/Newsletter_Vol2Issue8_Jun09.pdf

A group of 24 Thai resource managers and researchers will visit Queensland in August as part of the scientific process to work towards World Heritage Listing along the Andaman

Coast of Thailand.

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd has joined the list of Partners contributing to communities on the Nguna and Pele islands, located off the North coast of Vanuatu's principal island of Efate in the South Pacific Ocean. In our case, the assistance will relate to sustainable tourism, networking and climate change research and issues. The Nguna-Pele MPA is a local,

indigenous, non-governmental organization made up of sixteen communities on the two islands dedicated to the sustainable use and long-term existence of marine and terrestrial resources. It is the very first of its kind in Vanuatu and currently serves as a model for other island. James Cook University PhD candidate, Chris Barlett has been working and

researching in the region for some 7 years and makes a considerable contribution to topics noted on the website below.

Indonesia & Scotland

In July 2009 Dr Alan Wilson, the Chairman of the Board of Ecolodges Indonesia was

honoured at the University of Edinburgh in July with an Honorary Doctorate (Doctor

honoris causa - 'for the sake of the honour'). Dr Wilson is also Chairman, Indonesia

International Rural and Agricultural Development Foundation. The Award recognises his

lifetime of service to wildlife conservation in Africa and Indonesia where for the past 40

years he has been dedicated to poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. Alan

graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery (Edinburgh) 1963, Dip Biol

(Edinburgh) 1964 and a PhD (Edinburgh) 1968.

Ecolodges Indonesia currently operates four Ecolodges in Sumatra, Kaliamantan, Bali

and Flores, with plans well underway to open three more in environmentally sensitive

regions of the country.

Board Chairman, Dr Alan

Wilson (at bottom right) and

Board members Dedi Mullia and

Steve Noakes along with joint

company founder, Meryl

Wilson, attended a ceremony to

allocate new shares to

Indonesia staff at the AGM

2009 staff.. Ecolodges

Indonesia has a strong

conservation and community

benefit philosophy.

More information on Ecolodges

Indonesia is available from

www.ecolodgesindonesia.com

Edinburgh University was established by a

Royal Charter granted by James VI in 1582.

From the jungles of Kalimantan, Indonesia to the

hallowed stones of Edinburgh

Tonga

www.south-pacific.travel/spto/export/sites/spto/destinations/tonga

Photo credit: www.tongaholiday.com/index.php?page_id=10

National Geographic’s ‘Geotourism Challenge’

Three wonderful operations in Asia Pacific have made it to the final ten list of National Geographic’s global ‘Geotourism Challenge’. They are each inspirational and deserving of a quick look – especially the YouTube links on websites below.

Cambodia: http://geotourism.changemakers.com/node/21931 PEPY: Educational Volunteer Tourism changing attitudes in Cambodia

Mongolia: http://geotourism.changemakers.com/en-us/node/23485

Mongolia’s Ger to Ger Foundation – Nomad Centered, Community-Based, Cultural Eco

Tourism Development

India: http://geotourism.changemakers.com/en-us/node/19044

Bamboo Eco-Lodge River Trips on the Siang River

http://mdgasiapacific.org

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd Australian partner

organisation for the AusAID funded AYAD – Australian

Youth Ambassadors for development

(www.ayad.com.au) program.

In addition to being APO for AYAD placement, Dr

Glenn Hornby, currently in Kiribati, we are now APO

for Sibylla MacDonald for a Media and

Communications Officer assignment with the Tonga

Visitor Bureau www.tongaholiday.com

Vietnam Kindergarten Fundraising project

If you’re in Sydney, Friday 14th August 2009 come to NSW Parliamentary Dining Room, Parliament House, Macquarie St, Sydney 7.00PM, Dress: Lounge suit. Cost: A$100.00 per person or $900.00 for table of 10 Guests of Honour: Long Tan Battle Veteran & Author Dave Sabben, MG, Patricia Amphlett OAM (Little Pattie) and Col Joye A.M.

The AVVRG as a 100% voluntary organisation registered and licensed in Vietnam. For more information email : kerry.phelan@gmail.com

France: Centre International de Recherches et d'Etudes Touristiques

Our collaboration with René BARETJE-KELLER at CIRET enables the Pacific Asia Tourism

Pty. Ltd. communities to access a valuable tool for global scientific and professional networking and cooperation. CIRET consolidates information to 746 research centers

currently identified in 106 countries and to the 4,357 individual researchers currently identified in 118 countries, specialized in tourism and travel. CIRET makes available to Researchers and our Future Leaders the contents analysis through a thesaurus of 1,450

key-words and a geographical index concerning world-wide tourism and travel research through access (up to date) to 151,628 articles, documents, books that CIRET has read systematically created with the indication of authors(s) title and publisher. CIRET also provides a data on publishers specialized in tourism and leisure and provides a

publication center open to all researchers, in order to make their production available to the global research community.

http://www.ciret-tourism.com ciret@free.fr

USA: Centre for Global development

www.cgdev.org

Funds raised at the Salute to Vietnam

Veterans Charity Dinner will go to the

AUSTRALIAN VETERANS’ VIETNAM RECONSTRUCTION GROUP INC. (AVVRG) and assist in the completion of the Nui Dat

“Kindy”. The contribution to this project by

the Australian public is significant in that

the village of Nui Dat is now considered by

a whole generation of babyboomers and

their families to be, the “Spiritual Home”

for the 59,000 odd servicemen and women

who served in Vietnam during the ten year

conflict of the 60’s and 70’s.

CGD is an independent think tank that works to reduce global

poverty and inequality by encouraging policy change in the

U.S. and other rich countries through rigorous research and

active engagement with the policy community. CGD Society

members such as Steve Noakes share a commitment to a

better future for people in the developing world. They are

dedicated to global policy changes that will bring more

opportunities to poor people to improve their lives

Resources:

Global Poverty Project

www.globalpovertyproject.com

World Statistics

www.worldometers.info

WWF and Climate Change

1.4 billion reasons is not after your money. Your everyday actions – in what you learn, say, buy, give and do – can be connected to the ending of extreme poverty. Small actions in your life can create big

opportunities for the world’s poorest. 1.4 billion reasons links audience members with leading organisations so that each and every one of us can take action to end extreme poverty.

The world’s financial and climate crises have

a common cause: living beyond our means.

The world is running up huge ecological debts,

just as it has run up huge financial debts. Neither

is sustainable. WWF claims our leaders cannot

successfully put capitalism back together again

without at the same time fixing the greatest

single consequence of unsustainability – climate

change.

WWF has produced a ‘pocket guide’ to support

the six key tasks they want the forthcoming

Copenhagen Protocol negotiators to consider.

Download the Guide at http://assets.panda.org/downloads/wwf_climate_deal_1.pdf

OR

http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/climate_carbon_energy/climate_deal/publications/new_cli

mate_deal/

Has real time data on things like: Current world

population, Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions this year,

in tons, Species that have gone extinct this year,

Energy used worldwide today (kWh), Google

searches today, Computers sold this year and a lot

more. Cool info source.

Marrakekech Task Force – Sustainable Tourism (UNEP)

The Sustainable Tourism Task Force has launched a set of policy recommendations to reinforce sustainability parameters in tourism planning and management. The objective

is to guide tourism stakeholders on the identification of opportunities and their strategies of implementation to improve the economic resilience of the sector, guarantee long-term sustainability of tourism development and engage the tourism industry with key universal concerns such as poverty alleviation and climate change.

www.unep.fr/scp/marrakech/taskforces/tourism.htm

Another great ad out of NZ

Air New Zealand staff have nothing to hide http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elD38pJX7iE

Behind the scenes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnhVcD74i14

New York Times coverage http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/30/business/30air.html?emc=eta1

Sustainable Tourism Destination Portal

DestiNet is tourist destination information service that supports networking of various sustainable tourism stakeholders. It is jointly administrated by the European

Environment Agency (EEA), ECOTRANS a European network of experts and organisations in the tourism sector, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Tourism Organization (UN WTO).

http://destinet.ew.eea.europa.eu/background Aussies and Shares

Approximately 41% of adult Australians own shares, according to the 2008 Australian Share

Ownership Study (PDF 1.44MB), released by ASX on 23 June 2009. The Study offers insights into

the attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of retail share market investors in Australia in late 2008, a

time of significant market volatility

http://www.asx.com.au/about/pdf/2008_australian_share_ownership_study.pdf

The Marrakech Process is a global

multi-stakeholder process to

support the implementation of

Sustainable Consumption and

Production (SCP) and to develop a

Global Framework for Action on

SCP. The Process responds to the call

of the Johannesburg Plan of

Implementation (World Summit on

Sustainable Development 2002) to

support the regional and national

initiatives to accelerate the shift

towards SCP patterns

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd is a member of

south-pacific.travel (formerly the South Pacific Tourism Organisation or SPTO) is the

mandated inter-governmental body for the tourism sector in the region, with the mission to

"Market and Develop Tourism in the South Pacific".

south-pacific.travel members include the Pacific Island nations of the Cook Islands (Cooks), Fiji,

Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti (French

Polynesia), Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea (PNG). The People's Republic of China

is also a country member of south-pacific.travel.

Asia Pacific Customer Service Training for Tourism

http://www.oceaniatourismalliance.net/Documents/Training%20&%20Education%20Suzanne%20Noake

s%2009%20Nov%2008.pdf

Pacific Asia Tourism Pty Ltd supporting:

www.TourismROI.com