Hela government offers flight subsidy

AIR Niugini will resume flights to Tari with subsidised airfares to promote tourism in the province, Governor Philip Undialu says.
Undialu signed a memorandum of agreement with Air Niugini chief executive officer Bruce Alabaster.
He said the agreement would see 30 per cent discount be given to all media personnel and tourists travelling to Hela, 40 per cent discount to Hela people who wish to return home and 40 per cent discount to Hela people working in Port Moresby who want to go home for a holiday.
He said no discount would be given to those in Hela travelling to Port Moresby unless they had genuine reasons such as a medical referral.
“We will subsidise their fares on sighting the medical referral letter from Hela Provincial Hospital CEO (chief executive officer),” he said.
Undialu said Hela had the potential of becoming a tourism hub and encouraged his people to also start investing in SMEs (small to medium enterprises), building guest houses and other essential services.
“Most times, we tell only the bad side of the story,” he said.
“This time, we hope to tell the untold story of Hela through tourism.”
Alabaster said the province was ideal for tourism with its climate, landscape and culture.