Source: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
05 Sep, 2022
Episode 5 of AUT’s 2022 Pacific Language Week Video series – AUT Focus on Sustainability – was launched this week.
Narrated in Tongan (with English subtitles) to acknowledge Tonga Language Week being celebrated in Aotearoa from 4 September to 10 September, the animated video highlights the importance of a blue economy in the Pacific.
“Tourists to Tonga can take part in many marine ecotourism activities, like whale watching, snorkelling and diving,” explains AUT Professor of Tourism Simon Milne.
“If managed well, these activities can support Pacific Island communities to thrive socially, culturally, and economically while also protecting the marine environment they depend on.
“This will help move many islands in the Pacific towards a more sustainable marine-based economy – that’s what we call a ‘blue economy’.
Following the devasting impacts of COVID-19 to tourism in the Pacific, it is vital that nations like Tonga now focus on ‘building back better’.
“Ultimately, tourism’s engagement with the marine environment needs to bring sustained benefits and well-being for the Tongan people,” says Professor Milne.
View our Tonga Language Week video here:
Researchers from AUT’s New Zealand Tourism Research Institute lead the National Science Challenge Sustainable Seas project — ‘Growing marine ecotourism’ — which investigates the marine ecotourism sector in Aotearoa.
The Institute also runs the MFAT funded Pacific Tourism Data Initiative in Tonga and elsewhere in the Pacific – with a focus on better understanding visitor behaviour and impacts.
Release dates
To watch each video in the 2022 AUT Pacific language video series as they are launched, follow the Pacific at AUT Facebook page or watch on YouTube. The AUT Pacific Language Weeks project is supported by the Centre for Pacific Languages.
Upcoming 2022 Pacific Language Week dates:
- Tuvalu Language Week: Sunday 25 September – Saturday 1 October 2022
- Fijian Language Week: Sunday 2 October – Saturday 8 October 2022
- Niue Language Week: Sunday 16 October – Saturday 22 October 2022
- Tokelau Language Week: Sunday 23 October – Saturday 29 October 2022
