Photo: (L-R) Deputy Controller National Pandemic Response Dr. Daoni Esorom, Minister for Tourism Arts & Culture Hon. Isi Henry Leonard, PNGTPA CEO Mr. Eric Mossman Uvovo. Credit: PNGTPA
Tourism Promotion Authority has announced the re-opening of Cruise Tourism into the country. Chief executive officer Eric Mossman Uvovo said that the cruise tourism sector before COVID-19 contributed US$20 million (K70.4 million) to the economy.
Following the loosening of travel restrictions in PNG for commercial vessels, he said one of their main agenda items for the year was cruise tourism.
“Cruise tourism as we know it today can be traced back to the beginning of the 1960s coinciding with the decline of transoceanic ship travel and introduction of the first nonstop air travel between USA and Europe,” Mr. Uvovo said.
“This is according to its history, however, PNG cruise tourism is an essential part of our tourism program where visitors from all over the world can come and cruise around our beautiful islands and enjoy the breathtaking scenarios, including our blue seas, the lagoons, river ways, reef and many other beautiful sites we have across our islands.”
As of August 4, 2022, the controller published new measures, and those measures call for the ports to be opened, which will now enable commercial ships, commerce, and most crucially cruise ships to enter the nation, according to Deputy Controller National Pandemic Response Dr. Daoni Esorom.
He claimed that because most ports and borders were closed during the epidemic, residents had a difficult time. Now that the ports have reopened, he claimed that many people will profit from the companies that cruise ships offer when they arrive at ports.
Cruise tourism is a significant economic driver, thus Isi Henry Leonard, minister of tourism, arts, and culture, is glad that the ports are now reopening to welcome cruise ships back into the nation.
Reference: Kamus, Maxine. Post-Courier (6 October 2022). “TPA Announces Re-Opening Of Cruise Tourism Sector”.
