New village huts site a boost for PNG tourism
Village Huts, a PNG tourism operator, has launched a new website (villagehuts.com) that provides a reliable and secure way of booking accommodation and tours in the country for adventurers and backpackers.
About 95 per cent of homestays and guesthouses in PNG do not have their own website, so this new site gathers many of them together.
Village Huts director Pamela Christie says: “There is a growing number of accommodation and activity providers catering to adventure tourists, yet they lack proper exposure. A platform like ours gives tourists access to the different service providers in the country.”
The new website is expected to boost tourism numbers, according to the Australian High Commission in Port Moresby.
The commission, teamed with the Market Development Facility (MDF), has backed the website initiative.
Commission spokesperson Jodie McAllister says the website will usher in “new avenues for tourists to access wonderful places and activities on offer in Papua New Guinea”.
MDF is a multi-country development program funded by the Australian Government. It has been operating in Fiji, Timor-Leste and Pakistan for a few years, and last year expanded into Sri Lanka and PNG.
MDF says it will create about 315 jobs and increase incomes for 8040 people in PNG between 2015 and 2017. To do this, MDF works with industries that have long-term growth prospects, including tourism and hospitality. ■
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