A two days meeting of the Council of Tourism Ministers gets underway in Honiara today.
Solomon Islands Minister of Culture and Tourism Bartholomew Parapolo opened the meeting which began at the Heritage Park Hotel.
The meeting is divided into two parts beginning with senior officials who include all Provincial Secretaries and chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
The second session on Thursday will be the Ministers Council Meeting to be chaired by the Minister of Culture and Tourism with his counterparts from the 9 Provincial Governments.
The Solomon Islands Tourism Ministers Council is a body that was set up since the promulgation of the National Tourism Policy and the establishment of the Ministry of Tourism some 20 years ago.
The Ministry is currently trying to revive the body to see its relevance at present where there is a huge push in the development of tourism by the Democratic Coalition for Change Government.
The Council comprises the Central Government Minister responsible for tourism and his counterpart Ministers responsible for tourism in the provinces. It is chaired by the National Minister for Tourism.
It is a consultative forum established to act as an inter-governmental body between the National Government and the Provinces.
Some of its main tasks is to examine, discuss and make recommendation (where appropriate) on all matters pertaining to the orderly growth of tourism in the Solomon Islands from a National and Provincial Government perspective.
It provides an opportunity for the tourism ministers to discuss issues relating to tourism policies, tourism development plans and projects both national and provincial and an opportunity for briefing on the Government’s policies and action programs.
The meeting is proudly sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Our Telekom, Heritage Park Hotel and the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau (SIVB).