Tourism
From The Report: Papua New Guinea 2020
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Successive governments have identified tourism as a promising avenue for Papua New Guinea to diversify its economy away from a reliance on extractive industries. PNG’s biodiversity and rich cultural traditions offer a range of tourism opportunities that stand to be unlocked by improved infrastructure and effective marketing strategies. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the country seemed poised to reap longer-term benefits from hosting the 2018 APEC Leaders’ Summit, which placed it under the international spotlight. Moreover, visitors who made the trip to PNG largely reported positively on their experiences: more than 90% of visitors in 2018 stated they would return. Tourism, however, is expected to be among the final industries to recover from the pandemic. When international travel picks up again, the challenge will be to make a wider range of destinations accessible, while also ensuring that they are protected from overdevelopment and environmental damage. This chapter contains an interview with Tony Honey, Owner, Tufi Resort.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Unlocking potential: Improving infrastructure and safety is key to sector development
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Successive governments have long identified tourism as a promising avenue for Papua New Guinea to diversify its economy away from a reliance on extractive industries. PNG’s topography, biodiversity and rich cultural traditions offer a range of outdoor tourism opportunities that stand to be unlocked by improved infrastructure, enhanced safety measures and effective marketing strategies. Moreover, prior to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the country seemed poised to reap longer-term benefits…

Analysis

Sustainable approach: Growing visitor numbers are prompting governments to protect destinations from overdevelopment and environmental damage
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Tourism in the Asia-Pacific region has seen impressive growth in recent years, aided by cheaper air fares, an expanding consumer class and increased exposure brought about by improved internet connectivity. Although these developments have led to significant economic benefits for countries across the region, they have also had some negative consequences, particularly for the environment. Around 133.1m visitors travelled to countries in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)…

Interview

Diverse offering: Tony Honey, Owner, Tufi Resort, on promoting the country’s tourist destinations after travel restrictions are lifted
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Interview:Tony Honey What are the short- and medium-term implications of Covid-19 for the tourism industry, and what measures could help mitigate the fallout? TONY HONEY: Covid-19 and the related travel restrictions have been disastrous for the tourism industry in Papua New Guinea. While tourism forms a small part of PNG’s economy as a whole, it plays an important role in rural areas and is the only means of livelihood for many inhabitants of these areas. This has left the segment particularly…