The inaugural Pacific Hospitality Forum took place in April and was a momentous occasion. Led by Hospitality New Zealand, the event brought together more than 50 representatives from across the Pacific Region – Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Australia – and created the opportunity to build connections and collaborate on tangible outcomes that’ll look to guide the future of Hospitality sector.
Ringa Hora is proud to support the Pacific Hospitality Forum, with special mention to the conference co-hosts & emcees, Beatrice Faumuinā, Industry Relationship Manager, and Dan Te Whenua Walker, Council Member, who kept the discussions flowing and on track over the 2-days.
Topics discussed included fostering economic collaboration; networking across borders, advancing career paths and workforce development, educational opportunities, balancing sustainability with economic growth, challenges and opportunities across the industry, and building lasting legacies.
Our team looks forward to working with Hospitality NZ and this forum on how vocational education can support future aspirations.
Our Senior Pathways Advisor, Hinewai Quensell, invested significant time into building awareness of meaningful pathways into the Service sector for rangatahi by establishing strong relationships with career development and teacher associations.
At the TESAC Conference, Otautahi in April, Hinewai collaborated with Katy Cottrell from Waihanga Ara Rau, on a 3-hour workshop that covered moderation, our Future of Service Skills and Te Manu Arataki projects, and the new cookery standards that have been created for secondary schools. While there, Hinewai was able to experience a day in the life as a cookery student at Burnside College and see the state-of-the-art kitchen resources, which made her wonder how every rangatahi can have this type of experience while at school. She then participated as a panellist exploring what education might look like in 10 years with some amazing women from MOE, PPTA, secondary schools, and TENZ (Technology Education New Zealand).
In May, Hinewai represented Ringa Hora at the Vocational Summit, a gathering of educators, industry leaders, and policymakers convened by TENZ (Technology Education New Zealand). The event marked a significant milestone in vocational education, with discussions centring on pathway-focused learning and its implications for the future workforce.
In July, Hinewai experienced first-hand life as a wāhine within the New Zealand Airforce at the Schools to Skies programme. “It has been great to see the endless education and career pathways within the Airforce, and I’m so proud our culture is highly supported. Mauri ora e te whānau!”
The Ringa Hora Ā-Kiwa team visited providers in Auckland in April. Meeting the amazing team at the New Zealand School of Tourism Auckland Airport Campus was wonderful. NZST has great pathways for learners to staircase from Level 3 through to Diploma, which can lead to paid internship opportunities within Aotearoa and across the Globe. The NZST team encourages learners to look at the Tourism ecosystem, empowering them to be open to opportunities for career options from a transferrable skills perspective.
Fa’afetai lava to New Zealand Institute of Education and MSL Training Manukau, South Auckland campus, who offer a range of courses from Intro to Police to Certificate in Retail and Hospitality. It was awesome to reconnect with Losa Finau, Academic Manager and Fau Tiatia M.Ed, Programme Leader, and have the opportunity to meet some of your amazing MSL facilitators at the onsite pop-up cafe. This helped us to better understand the pathway to employment for your learners and their industry connections. We heard strong themes of the importance of community and whanau support to keep learners engaged by genuinely understanding each student’s circumstances, with pastoral care of the utmost importance. The Thrive Hive hub was an excellent initiative for Whaikaha students ensuring their learning success.
Zach Edwards, our Industry Engagement Lead for Business and Professional Services, attended a hui in Rotorua which focused on career pathways into areas of businesses, including accounting, management, marketing, HR and law.
The hui was a collaborative initiative by Rotorua Business Chamber, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, Taiohi Tūrama, and Rotorua Lakes Council and hosted by Bank of New Zealand.
A key outcome was connecting local students who attended with employers and businesses in Rotorua.
Ringa Hora and Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA) are coming together to develop vocational education and learning for the business events sector. Mel Harrington, our GM Partnerships and Engagement, presented at their annual conference in June, and we are excited to be collaborating with BEIA by adding our voice to the Workforce Steering Group through four representatives from our relationship management, qualifications, product development and moderation teams.
“This supports the broader vocational education and training priorities outlined in the business events industry’s strategic direction to 2035 (Pīata Mai) and our own strategic vision,” says Mel Harrington.
