Leaders from Fiji’s tourism sector convened in Nadi this week for a two-day National Workshop on Phasing Out Single-Use Plastics, as the Pacific Tourism Organisation pushed industry stakeholders to recognise tourism’s contribution to waste pollution and take a leading role in the transition to sustainable operations.
Christopher Cocker, chief executive of the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), told delegates the sector must acknowledge its footprint but also use its influence to drive change. “More importantly, we are a powerful part of the solution,” he said, pointing to the ripple effect when a hotel or tour operator adopts alternatives that then reshape supply chains and guest behaviour.
The workshop is the latest step under the SPTO’s broader 10-Year Decade of Action, where the organisation is developing a Standards and Certification Framework aimed at eliminating “problematic, unsafe and unsustainable plastics from the tourism value chain.” Cocker said the work will focus on strengthening support systems and sourcing better alternatives to single-use plastics (SUPs), moving beyond policy toward practical implementation.
Practical partners were on hand to translate policy into action. Return and Earn Fiji presented insights on recycling solutions appropriate for Fiji’s logistics and market, while Control Union outlined third-party certification support to validate industry progress. Cocker urged operators to use the forum to build the practical connections needed to bridge the gap between high-level commitments and on-the-ground change.
A central ask from SPTO at the workshop was for transparency and active participation in data collection. Cocker encouraged operators to be candid about guest feedback, operational barriers and the specific support they need “in your part of the island.” He also called for volunteers to join SPTO’s Baseline Data Collection Trial as “champions,” arguing that robust, hard data is essential to attract funding and scale interventions: “We cannot attract the funding and support required if we do not have the hard data to support our case.”
Industry attendees were praised for existing waste-reduction efforts, with Cocker acknowledging ongoing initiatives by tourism operators across Fiji as vital to the sector’s sustainability transition. The workshop was framed as both an acknowledgment of progress and a moment to accelerate collective action—moving from isolated efforts to a coordinated programme that can be measured and certified.
By convening suppliers, recyclers and certifiers alongside tourism operators, the SPTO aims to build the supply-chain solutions and evidence base necessary to phase out SUPs at scale. For Fiji, where tourism is a major economic pillar and islands face particular vulnerabilities to marine pollution, the workshop represents a practical push to translate international sustainability commitments into local action and investment-ready projects.