Official wants visa rule for tourists relaxed

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VISAS for people coming from major tourism markets should be relaxed so that more tourists can come to the country, an official says.
Executive manager of the Papua New Guinea Tourism Industry Association Christine Peipul said during the opening of the Lukim PNG Expo at the Nature Park in Port Moresby on Sunday that the rules for such visas should be less stringent.
She said the tourism industry could strengthen the economy.
“I believe that tourism can really boost our economy but to do that, there are certain markets that we need visas to be less strict so more people from there can come,” Peipul said.
Peipul said Papua New Guinea could attract more tourists if it sorted out the visa issue which had been a hindrance to entering the country.
It forces potential tourists to go to other countries where it is easy to obtain a visa-on-arrival.
“Some of them have to wait for months to get their visa to Papua New Guinea. That’s when people say: I can go to Indonesia, or Bali, or Fiji and get a visa on arrival there rather than in PNG,” Peipul said.