Photo: Eric Mossman Uvovo. Credit: PNG Tourism Industry Association
In the first quarter of 2022, Papua New Guinea welcomed 9845 overseas tourists after the COVID-19 travel restrictions were lifted.
Eric Mossman Uvovo, Chief Executive Officer of the Tourism Promotion Authority (TPA), disclosed.
He said that in the first quarter of 2022, the country had a 100 percent rise in overseas arrivals, or an additional 4933 people, compared to the same period last year.
He said that, following years of steady development in visitor arrivals, PNG's numbers plummeted in 2020 and 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, which reduced foreign travel to its lowest level ever.
However, in 2022, the numbers are gradually increasing as more destinations are added.
“Out of the total arrivals to PNG 18 per cent came for business, two per cent on holiday, four per cent came to visit friends and relatives, 67 per cent came for employment, one per cent came for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) and the remaining eight per cent visited the country for other reasons.
As many countries around the world have opened their international borders, arrivals are starting to pickup in 2022 and this healthy trend is expected to continue throughout the year and next year onwards,” Mr Uvovo said.
He stated that their foreign agents and local operators have indicated that passengers are anxious to visit, but that the main difficulty has been with the Visa online application.
“We have met with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship who assured us that they will look into this issue and tourists can apply for online visas to travel immediately,” he said.
Reference: Kamus, Maxine. Post-Courier (16 June 2022). “PNG Records Increase In Visitors In 2022 First Quarter”.
