The course offers a ground-breaking set of guidance materials which will allow graduates to immediately assess their destinations for practical future needs for sustainable tourism development, such as sustainable infrastructure requirements; destination-wide climate mitigation and adaptation tools; and social, environmental and economic development indicators which inclusively pinpoint local needs. Graduates who fulfil all course requirements will receive a Recognition of Achievement from Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business.

The application process is now live on Cornell’s Sustainable Tourism Asset Management Program (STAMP) website, and will be open for just one month. To be eligible, applicants must reside in one of 154 qualifying countries (which includes the Cook Islands), be proficient in English, and commit to completing the comprehensive, 40 hour course over 8 weeks (equivalent to about 5 hours of study per week). To meet the urgent need to address the growth of tourism worldwide, this self-paced online course is designed for students and working professionals in both public and private workplace settings, with tools and exercises directly applicable to the needs of tourism ministries, destination management organisations, protected areas, municipal governments, and NGOs.

Director of Destination Management (Brad Kirner) emphasised the important of improving knowledge and capabilities within the sustainable tourism and destination management areas; "This is a fantastic opportunity to access world-leading insights, training and accompanying tools which will help empower the Cook Islands tourism industry to take a future-proofed, sustainable approach to tourism development".

Applications will be accepted for one month (July 31 at 12pm EDT) although candidates are encouraged to apply early.