Local content in hospitality sector vital, hotel boss says

THE local content in a country’s hospitality industry is important, says the Hilton Port Moresby general manager John Lucas.
Lucas told The National that Papua New Guinea’s rich culture and resource diversity should be maintained and embraced as a key to the growth of tourism and hospitality in the country.
“PNG nationals have a real affinity with hospitality, they are friendly, they are welcoming, they have big beaming smiles and hospitality is something that comes naturally to all of PNG nationals,” he said.
“So from our point of view, starting up and establishing business here is really quite easy.”
Lucas said the hotel was determined to get local content on hospitality and support local produce.
“We feature the local cuisine primarily at our Mumu restaurant, which is our signature restaurant, there we have a traditional PNG style of food infused with some Western influence,” he said.
“We engage heavily with local supplies, we would much rather support the local industry in PNG rather than to import stock and we continue to work with our local suppliers.
“We have found the quality and the reliability to be a good mix for us and we continue to support local supply chains.”
Asked on who the suppliers were, Lucas said: “It can be locally around PNG, around Port Moresby or it can come from the fields, so we tend to support locally or within PNG rather than importing stock.”