Study eyed to measure cruise benefits

Tourism Promotion Authority (TPA) will be leading a regional economic study on an agenda which Papua New Guinea initiated during the Apec Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting this year.
The study will be based on micro-small-to-medium enterprise participation in the cruise ship sector, says TPA director for policy and planning Alcinda Trawen.
“This area is of interest to PNG TPA because of our work in developing this sector,” she said.
“The increase in cruise ship numbers and also importance in generating economic livelihood for communities, thus we initiated this project for Apec funding.
“We received support and endorsement for the project last year from TWG. This year we are focusing on selecting a service provider to assist collate and provide economic data, which we are going to collect from five economies, including Papua New Guinea, to contribute to the study.”
Trawen said the study looked at the benefit of cruise business to the local communities.
“We hope to provide this project report initiated by Papua New Guinea to Apec TWG next year,” she said.