| Sports |
Finding the right
niche
By A Special Correspondent
Ecotourism involves visitors coming
to interact with the natural and cultural attractions of a place
rather than visiting man-made attractions like resorts, fun parks
and museums.
In some countries ecotourism is also taken to mean tourism that
has very little impact on the natural environment, even to the
extent of implementing measures like composting toilets, raised
walkways and solar power to make ecotourism facilities
environmentally friendly.
Australian Aaron Hayes, who runs Ecotourism Melanesia, a Port
Moresby-based inbound tour company which specialises in sending
tourists into the rural areas of Papua New Guinea, is one those
who takes a special interest.
"Here in PNG, we use the word 'ecotourism' more generally to mean
'nature and culture based tourism'," Hayes expounds.
"Other catchphrases these days are 'responsible tourism' and
'community-based tourism'.
"Responsible tourism denotes tourism that cares for both the
environment and the local people by ensuring that the tourism
activity treads softly on the environment and also has decent
benefits for local communities.
"These days many tourists browsing holiday pamphlets and websites
tend to ask tour operators for information about how their tours
benefit local communities.
"Community-based tourism involves tourism ventures that are
actually owned and operated by people who live in the community
area where the tourism activity takes place.
"For example village guest houses and village tours.
"Over at Tufi the Dive Resort takes groups of tourists to see a
demonstration of sago-making in a local village beginning with
cutting the sago stands and ending with cooking and eating the
sago in somebody's home and this is an excellent example of
community-based tourism.
"Some community-based tourism ventures like village guest houses
are run by individuals and families whereas larger ventures like a
Wildlife Management Area or village singsing experience might
involve the whole village.
"Community-based tourism enterprises owned by whole villages are
generally not sustainable here in PNG because there are too many
hands out for a share and the income from the enterprise is
generally too low to satisfy every shareholder's expectations.
"Many politicians and donors have given money to kick-start
village-based lodges and eco-resorts but how many of them are
still operating today?
"Not many.
"Generally they collapse due to poor management, lack of
marketing, and disputes which arise when shareholders are not
satisfied with the amount of money they are receiving compared to
the effort they are giving.
"One sad case is the Kamiali Guest House in Morobe which is owned
by the Lababia Village community and situated in a magnificent
Wildlife Management Area.
"This place could be the biggest ecotourism attraction in PNG but
it is poorly marketed and poorly managed.
"My company refuses to send any more tourists there after a number
of our clients reported disappointment with the accommodation and
tour activities there."
These days many tourism destinations in our region have focused on
mass tourism that caters for the Australian holiday market, what
we call "beach-and-palm-tree tourism".
These tourists don't mind if they go to Fiji or Bali, whichever
one is cheaper, as long as there's a beach with palm trees and a
nice resort with a swimming pool.
If you look at the pamphlets and advertisements put out by tourism
operators in Malaysia, Bali, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Cook
Islands, Samoa and even the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland,
you'll see that they are all advertising the same thing: a resort
holiday by the beach where tourists can relax and enjoy
themselves.
"If PNG tries to compete in the beach-and-palm-tree mass tourism
market we are doomed," Hayes warns.
"PNG doesn't have enough postcard-perfect white beaches in
accessible locations where resorts can be built, and even if we
did there are too many turn-offs in PNG that resort developers
will shy away from including the urban crime problem, a generally
violent society nationwide, health risks like malaria and TB and
the mess created by betel nut everywhere.
"If beach-and-palm tree tourists have a choice between a resort in
PNG and a resort in Vanuatu or Queensland, they won't pick PNG
because in many ways PNG is less visually attractive and coming
here involves higher risk for the traveler.
"Last year my company made arrangements for a wealthy resort
developer from Brazil to fly down to an uninhabited island in
Milne Bay where he wanted to build a luxury getaway resort.
"But when he arrived in Port Moresby he took one look at Jackson's
Airport terminal and said 'cancel the trip to the island, there's
no way I can bring my guests through this grubby looking airport
with people spitting red stuff everywhere'.
"And he turned around and left on the next flight out.
"I wasn't worried because I don't think luxury resorts offer much
for Papua New Guineans anyway ... most of the money just goes into
some millionaire's pocket and the only benefits for local people
are those few who get jobs in the resort which are mostly low-paid
jobs anyway."
If the Papua New Guinea tourism industry is smart it will not try
to compete in the mass tourism market but will focus on offering
"niche" (specialised) tourism products that appeal to travellers
with specific interests, including scuba diving, surfing, fishing
and even unusual interests like volcano climbing and collecting
beetles.
Travellers with special interests tend to stay longer and spend
more.
"For example, my tour company Ecotourism Melanesia gets a steady
stream of cultural tourists interested in 'primitive' cultures,"
Hayes says.
"Many of them live in Europe and North America, they are often
very wealthy and they spend two or three months every year
travelling the world visiting different cultures.
"They read National Geographic magazine and International Travel
News and they subscribe to websites like www.responsibletravel.com
.
"They have visited many countries already and are looking for
somewhere new and different to experience so they come to PNG.
"These visitors often stay three to four weeks in the country and
visit four or five different destinations and do outdoor
activities like hiking from village to village to meet the people
and really experience the country.
"They often spend K10,000 to K15,000 per head on the ground while
in the country and a lot of this money goes straight into the
pockets of local people that my company pays to provide guest
house accommodation, village tours, village singsing
entertainment, dinghy and road transport, access to special sites
and trekking guide services.
 
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