Milne Bay tourism head announces ‘milestone’ policy outline

By Festus Maiginap
MILNE Bay Tourism Bureau chairman Genevieve Igara says the bureau has reached another milestone after launching its provincial policy outline at the Losuia headquarters during the Kiriwina culture show last week.
Igara said the policy outline set the direction and thinking of the way tourism in Milne Bay should be developed.
“One of the main changes is to focus on district-driven tourism, beginning with the Trobriand Islands as Milne Bay’s lead rural district for tourism development,” she said.
The event witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Milne Bay government and the National Culture Commission (NCC).
Igara said the agreement confirmed NCC’s commitment to help develop tourism and related cultural activities in the province.
“This MoU is important because it proposes a solution to fund cultural-related initiatives while supporting tourism infrastructure development such as museums, culture and resource centres,” she said. “We also hope that through this MoU, we will be able to access support from NCC, the Tourism Promotion Authority and the National Government to build the first tourism culture and resource centre in Kiriwina.”
The culture show last week saw hundreds converge on the island station to witness a show of spectacular culture. Present on the island were Milne Bay’s deputy governor and Kiriwina culture show chairman Tom Cameron and guests, including Alotau MP Charles Abel, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Isi Henry Leaonard, Milne Bay administrator Ashan Numa, Registrar of Political Parties Dr Alphonse Gelu, and executives from TPA and the NCC.