Tauranga Vananga and Cook Islands Tourism conducted their second round of cultural tour guide workshops last week as a part of their joint commitments outlined in their 5 year Memorandum of Understanding. Tauranga Vananga Director, Ngarangi Tangaroa-Teio emphasized the value of this partnership by saying that “these workshops are a valuable avenue for Tauranga Vananga to promote cultural and historical sites of interest in order to strengthen the cultural component of our tourism
offering and protect these valuable assets.”

“The Cultural Tour Guide Workshop will help provide tour operators with information about historical landmarks and their cultural significance across each of the Vaka’s on Rarotonga. These are a series of workshops with the goal to enhance the cultural knowledge of our local tour guides,” said Christian Mani, Director of Destination Development, Cook Islands Tourism.

Puaikura was the focus area for the workshop this week and it opened with a powerful welcoming address from Tokerau Tinomana Ariki.

“Guest speakers and cultural experts, Tangianau Tuaputa and James Tuaputa presented significant landmarks across the Vaka of Puaikura, which was well received from over fifty tour guides representing the various tour operators on Rarotonga,” Mani added.

The workshop consisted of a group activity where participants composed and presented a pe’e, an overview of the Vaka of Puaikura and site visits to a number of landmarks in Puaikura. One of the many outcomes of the workshop included a recommendation to create an information portal containing fact sheets of cultural and historical information that could be easily accessible for tour guides to share with
their clients. “The workshop has highlighted further opportunities for collaboration between Tauranga Vananga and Cook Islands Tourism” explains Mani. Tauranga Vananga and Cook Islands Tourism will announce the cultural workshop for Te Au O Tonga in
the coming months.

For more information, contact Sieni Tiraa on [email protected] or 29435