Photo credit: Tourism Promotion Authority
According to Tourism Promotion Authority (TPA) chief executive officer Eric Mossman Uvovo, the tourism industry has lost roughly K500 million as a result of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).
“PNG recorded an 82 per cent drop – 170,000 fewer arrivals compared to the 200,000 arrivals of international travellers in 2019,” Uvovo told a tourism convention yesterday at the University of PNG.
The tourist industry, he said, has been hammered the hardest around the world, with Asia-Pacific being the hardest-hit region.
“Global tourism suffered its worst year on record in 2020 with international arrivals dropping by 74 per cent (or one billion less in arrival according to the latest data from the World Tourism Organisation). The Asia and Pacific region suffered the most with an 84 per cent drop (or 300 million fewer international arrivals), followed by the Middle East and Africa.
“International arrivals worldwide continue to remain weak in 2021 and it is expected to slowly improve in 2022 and fully recover by 2024.”
The National Development Plan 2022-2026 is being used by the TPA to:
- Improve the number of visitors;
- Increase the number of domestic visitors;
- Increase the number of tourism operators and suppliers and strengthen product capacity;
- Enhance the quality of tourism-related goods and services;
- Strengthen the tourism industry and the regulatory framework; and
- Improve sector leadership, coordination, and synergy.
The TPA intends to collaborate with the two local airlines to offer domestic travel discounts to outlying areas of the country.
Reference: The National (22 September 2021). “Tourism industry lost K500mil due to Covid-19, Uvovo says”.
