Cook Islands Tourism’s Visitor Experience Manager, Carlene Mapu, is one of four successful applicants from the Cook Islands chosen for a special 6-month programme on Disaster Management. This programme is funded by New Zealand's PARTner project and delivered by the Pacific Community (SPC) in collaboration with the University of the South Pacific (USP).

The programme involves two mandatory in-person workshops and weekly online sessions. Carlene is currently attending the first workshop in Suva, Fiji. The curriculum aligns perfectly with her role at Cook Islands Tourism, where one of her key focus area is ensuring visitor safety and security in the event of emergencies, disasters, or crises.

By participating in this program, Carlene will gain valuable knowledge on best practices for ensuring visitor safety particularly in areas of natural disasters. This knowledge will be crucial for Cook Islands Tourism to implement the necessary procedures and understand the infrastructure needs well in advance of any potential incident.

Following this in-person workshop, participants will participate in weekly online sessions and complete team-based assignments to solidify their learnings before returning to Fiji in September for the last in-person workshop.