Tourism chief decries industry

LOCAL tourism in Papua New Guinea is poor, according to the chief executive officer of the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority Peter Vincent.
He said there were opportunities available to develop the local industry, however, the cost of travel within the country was just too high.
“Take for instance, Australians are able to travel in-country because of the flexible cost that makes it convenient,” he added.
“In PNG, airfares and accommodation is too expensive for a local taking his or her family to spend holidays in another province,” Vincent said.
He said service providers such as airlines and hotels were not willing to reduce their costs, making it difficult to promote local tourism in the country.
However, PNG had made significant progress in the last five years, thanks to the government’s ongoing support.
“More significantly, our progress has been guided by the national tourism master plan (TMP) 2010-17,” Vincent said.
“The TMP, the first of such plan for tourism in PNG, has provided the needed 10-year framework for development of the industry.”
Vincent said the industry also faced other challenges in the areas of marketing and promotions, incentives and investments, human resource development, product development, transport and infrastructure and institutions and partnerships.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Works and Transport Don Polye said tourism was listed as an important economic sector player in the blue print of PNG Vision 2050 and the development strategic plan 2010-30.