Lae-based tourism organisation awards 47 pioneer students

A NEW tourism training organisation in Lae has awarded certificates to 47 pioneer students.
The Eco Pacific Tourism began operations in August to support the development of tourism by training unemployed and disadvantaged youth.
The certificate is for Tourism Operations, Aviation Studies, Logistics, Customs and Freight Forwarding Operations, Accounting, Computing and Data Analysis, Business Operations Management, and Human Resources Management. Founder and director Alphonse Foimae Jr, a trainer with National Training Council for the past 19 years, said the training took 14 weeks.
He urged the government to focus on skills training.
“Training is a very important tool for Papua New Guineans and the government must support that. We must try to develop Morobe at all cost,” Foimae said.
“Training is an important part of development, it must be accessible to students. We cannot keep sending our students to the Philippines to learn what they can learn in our country.”
Trainer Aaron Tobavai said the pioneers had set the record for the organisation in Lae.
“But this is not the end,” he said.
“The industry is waiting, and they need skilled personnel to make a difference within their organisations.
“We try our best to impart knowledge and skills to students who can take it and cause change in the organisations they work.”
Foimae, who is the founder and a trainer said in October that the organisation had been in operation since 2015 and more involved in tourism consultancy services.
“This was to help out local tourism stakeholders with skills such as writing tourism project proposals,” Foimae said at the time.
“After seeing the need to enhance tourism, I decided to train people and enhance their skills and knowledge.”