Provincial tourism bureau moving into new office

By LARRY ANDREW
TOURISM and agriculture will play an important role in Papua New Guinea once the extractive industries are no longer at the forefront of the national economy, Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Emil Tammur said during the opening of the Morobe Tourism Bureau (MTB) in Lae on Friday.
Tammur launched the MTB website at the opening and said the Government was committed to ensuring tourism and agriculture were major industries in the future.
“PNG is one of the last frontiers in the world, a country that has 800-plus different languages and where would you find it around the world, you cannot find it,” he said.
“We are so diverse in cultures, traditions and when you travel one or two kilometres there’s different cultures, dances and languages and that is why we are so unique but our tourism industry is in its infancy.”
He said comparing with Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and other Pacific island nations and Singapore and Indonesia, PNG had not developed its tourism industry.
He said the government and its partners and stakeholders could still develop PNG’s potential but would need everyone to work together.