K63 million tourism loan available to operators

TOURISM operators in East New Britain will have the opportunity to apply for business loans through a US$20 million (K63 million) fund being proivided by the World Bank.
The fund will be shared between ENB and Milne Bay, depending on their project submissions.
ENB Tourism Authority chief executive Gard Renson said East New Britain secured K39 million from the loan for three projects.
One of these was a community-based tourism grant of US$3 million (K9.69mil) and was on a first-come first-served basis. Local tourism operators could make their proposals to their respective districts for vetting before it went to the ENB tourism authority then submissions could be forwarded to the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority (TPA).
This was good opportunity for local tourism operators and those wanting to venture into the tourism business to come forward with their project proposals.
Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Emil Tammur clarified last week that the TPA would be the only implementing agency for the loan.
Tammur said provincial committees would identify and asses the projects on the ground in consultation with the authority and the World Bank team before service providers and contractors were engaged.