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In a milestone for the tourism sector, Akiaki’s tenth course, titled “E Whano, e Whanake: Empowerment through Culture and Identity,” has gone live.
The first set of online learning modules designed to help enhance the skills of tourism businesses across New Zealand, it marks big step toward upskilling the industry, particularly in areas of sustainability and cultural competency.
Launched in May 2024, the Akiaki online education programme has gained traction among tourism operators who have expressed a pressing need to enhance their business capabilities. To date, 451 learners from 177 tourism organisations have registered for the Akiaki – Advancing Tourism initiative, reflecting a strong demand for resources to navigate the changes of the industry.
Rebecca Ingram, chief executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa (TIA), expressed her enthusiasm about the programme’s growth. “The current Akiaki – Advancing Tourism courses have been designed to provide a solid understanding of the basics of sustainability and help to build business capability and were released progressively over the last year. Our current focus is to ensure tourism businesses continue to take up the courses and work through the comprehensive programme.”
The newly launched course dives into Māori identity, values, and culture, highlighting how tourism businesses can use best practices for culturally responsible tourism.
Rebecca says that this initiative aligns with the fourth action of the industry’s strategy, Tourism 2050: “Embrace Te Whakarae Māori.” She says, “The course gives operators actionable tools to enhance the visitor experience – building on and deepening the unique role of Māori values within tourism as a key differentiator for Aotearoa New Zealand.”
Reflecting on the insights gained from participant feedback, she highlighted the need for the programme to evolve in accordance with industry demands.
“We developed the programme as a response to a clear call from tourism operators to continue to build their business and sustainability capability. The course was based on the 12 commitments of TIA’s Tourism Sustainability Commitment, covering economic, visitor, community, and environmental sustainability.” The two most popular courses to date — “Carbon Measurement and Reduction” and “Eliminating Waste and Sustainable Supply Chains” — “Both give participants actionable tools and tangible metrics to make improvements and measure their progress” she says.
As tourism businesses embrace the integration of Māori identity and values Rebecca says “Tikanga Māori is unique to New Zealand and a defining aspect of the visitor experience. Thriving in tourism means embracing and showcasing this uniqueness with confidence and authenticity. Māori values such as Manaakitanga (hospitality and care) Kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and whanaungatanga (relationships) can be shared by ALL tourism businesses. No matter what your background is, your business can help bridge cultures, creating a welcoming space for learning and understanding.”
She says “The most common challenge we hear of is a fear of getting it wrong, or misrepresenting customs and beliefs of a culture that isn’t their own. Akiaki supports connecting with local Iwi and Hapu and provides information and ideas about how to share our Māori culture appropriately.”
Success stories from Akiaki participants reveal the benefits of the courses. Rebecca says “Some businesses encourage staff to work through the courses individually then meet as a team to discuss how learnings can be applied to their own business.” Feedback indicates that many businesses have recognized the value of the real-life case studies presented in the curriculum, which resonate with their operational realities. One participant shared, “It’s great and something we’ve been looking for. I have wanted to implement sustainable solutions to waste management and becoming carbon neutral for a while but really didn’t know where to start. This takes us through step by step – very good. All the resources are there to use.”
