PEP-Pacific joined Papua New Guinea’s Tourism Promotion Authority and Investment Promotion Authority to conduct a Tourism Project Development Workshop. The event took place from November 6th to 10th at Kumul Lodge in Enga Province.
The workshop was designed to equip local entrepreneurs, government advisors, and finance industry representatives with the knowledge and skills they need to prepare, advise on, or evaluate viable tourism projects for Papua New Guinea. The goal is to ensure that business owners and investors are well-prepared to establish and manage a sustainable tourism operation.
Some 25 delegates attended the event, and speakers included John Perrottet and Jennifer Bartlett of IFC; Dain Simpson, Associate Consultant for the European Union's Centre for Development of Enterprise; Peter Vincent, Chief Executive of the Tourism Promotion Authority; and Ivan Pomelau, Managing Director of the Investment Promotion Authority.
In addition to the presentations a key part of the program was a field trip to Anji village, where participants applied their newly acquired business planning skills to the local community tourism project. Participants made recommendations to the village community.
Reporting on the success of the workshop, John Perrottet, manager of PEP-Pacific’s tourism program, said organizers and delegates agreed that the workshop was successful in building the capacity of project proponents and intermediaries. He added, “We look forward to phase two of this successful partnership with the tourism and investment authorities, when we host the coastal and islands regions workshop in 2007.”
