Embassy rep sees potential in tourism

Business

By JACKLYN SIRIAS
THE country has so much untapped potential such as tourism to promote economic growth, an official of the Indonesian embassy in Port Moresby says.
Head of Chancery Johanes Made told The National that the country’s biggest potential was in tourism.
“The biggest potential for PNG is in tourism,” he said.
Made said minerals and petroleum were non-renewable resources which would be finished someday.
“But in tourism, you see people love coming to your country not because of the modernisation but because of the uniqueness and the diversity in culture,” Made said.
“More people or tourists will be visiting the country if Papua New Guinea has a national festival of culture where people showcase all their unique traditional dressing and style of music and dances in a more organised way,” he said.
He said Indonesia had a mixture of cultures of different countries while PNG villages had their own unique cultures.
“When tourists visit a country, they do not only want to see the culture but also taste the local culinary (food) of that country,” Made said.
He said the style of food people cook traditionally could also be a way of attracting tourists.
“Most of the restaurants here are owned by expatriates,” he said.
“Tourists are people who want to explore, experiment and taste new things.
“They do not want to come to Papua New Guinea and eat food from their country.
“They want to taste the PNG-style cooking and know the taste.”