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NEW Ireland’s potential for
tourism remains untapped and with careful planning and injection of
start-up capital, the industry will eventually develop as a major
revenue earner.
A member of the provincial tourism board Demas Kavavu said this during
the completion of a two-week Update Industry Knowledge workshop in
Kavieng recently.
He said with the support of the provincial administration and other
stakeholders, proper awareness should be carried out in the community to
ensure ordinary people understood the important requirements for a
quality and sustainable tourism industry over the long term.
The workshop was run by the Tourism Promotion Authority and attended by
50 participants comprising of small tourist operators and guest house
owners with almost 20 of them attending as first-timers.
Mr Kavavu said this was by far the biggest single group to participate
in the workshop.
He said this was an encouraging sign for the industry in New Ireland,
which was included among the five provinces identified by the National
Government to pilot the country’s major drive in the promotion of
tourism.
Currently, the provincial tourism board is continuing with its survey of
visitors in and out of the province in an effort to improve services and
promote tourism within the province.
The survey is conducted through the Kavieng airport, where the bureau
has a booth to serve tourists, mainly international visitors.
Meanwhile, an island operator from Tsoi Boston Tusikai said small
tourist operators should be assisted to design special promotional
packages for their businesses.
He said currently there were no such services readily available, and for
many it was a struggle to market their operations both domestically and
internationally.
Mr Tusikai said only bigger hotels and operators had means to finance
promotional packages.
 
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