Dear Editor – The organization known as ‘Green Tourism Solomon Islands Ltd’ (GTSIL) has recently conducted five days of ‘high impact tourism training’ for small and medium size tourist operators in Taro, Choiseul Province.
The DTSIL sought funding from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the financial assistance under the European Union (EU) aided SI-TIDE programme to conduct the training.
.The particular tourism training exercise was made possible through the South Pacific Tourism Capacity Building Programme for human resources development in member countries, including the Solomon Islands.
This reported GTSIL training compliments the hospitality training successfully carried out in Isabel Province in recent weeks.
To add to the positive indicators on the tourism front, the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB) has arranged for a special feature article on the Solomon Islands to be published in the next edition of ‘Cruise Passenger Magazine.’
This particular article has been written by Ken Madden, a former President of the Australian Society of Travel Writers and who visited the Solomon Islands in January this year in preparation for the article.
The published article will get international attention and aid tourist development by boosting Solomon Island’s visitor numbers and the economy.
The other good news, I must add, relates to the early visit of two cruise liners this month.
The ‘Spirit of Enderby’ is scheduled to dock in Honiara on 19 April, to be followed by the ‘Sun Princess’ on 24 April and, later on, its sister vessel, ‘Dawn Princess’ is set to dock in Honiara on 4 July.
Begin now, I urge, to practice those welcoming smiles and bring out your artifacts and handicrafts for it is said 40 percent of all passengers come ashore to buy our local wares.
We can expect more positive developments from the SIVB and its marketing team in the coming months.
Frank Short
Former police commissioner
Bangkok, Thailand
