THE d’Entrecasteaux Group of Islands in Milne Bay have long held a special charm about them but it has been their neighbours furthest to the east in the Islands of Love - the Trobriand Islands - which have had all the attention in all matters tourism.
This is despite the fact that the d’Entrecasteaux group’s main islands of Fergusson and Normanby are accessible by motorised banana boats in under an hour from the eastern most mainland tip of Papua New Guinea compared to the 45-minute commercial flight from Alotau to the Trobriand Islands.
The d’Entrecasteaux Islands unique products are now slowly being exposed to international visitors through a special community project introduced at the district level by the local Member of Parliament Davies Stevens.
The project is called the Tourism Esa’ala Initiative (TEI) and is planned to promote and market its own unique tourism attractions.
TEI was initiated in September 2014 and is in its first full year of operation. It is already proving to be a success by marketing the d’Entrecasteaux Islands as the “Last Eden” - an obvious reference to the Bible’s Eden and it abundant beauty.
TEI manager Maleta Tokwakwasi is a native from the islands and is proud to be leading this exciting new venture which she is confident has a lot of potential in Community Based Eco-Tourism (CBET) ventures for the local people.
“We now have an information desk located at the Alotau International Hotel where we have been receiving a lot of queries from visitors,” she said this week in Port Moresby.
“Tourists have heard of the d’Entrecasteaux Islands but they did not know who to contact about transport to the islands, whether their safety was guaranteed and the sort of tourism attractions that are available on the islands.
“So with the establishment of the Tourism Esa’ala Initiative, we have now been able to send a good number of tourists to the islands especially on day tours.”
TEI offers full day and half day cultural and nature tours and island visits to the popular Dei Dei Hot Springs on Ferguson Island and to nearby Normanby Island to watch the unique Goldies’ Bird of Paradise in its natural habitat.
The islands are also renowned for both underwater and land based caving expeditions. Tourists can also just island-hop and explore the beautiful sandy beaches and local villages of these tropical islands which are only 5 minutes apart by banana boat.
To further enhance its tourism potential, TEI attended the recently ended Lukim PNG Tourism Expo in Port Moresby to showcase its products to the 35 international tourism agents that attended.
“This is only our first year and also our first time at Lukim PNG but we are really satisfied with the outcomes thus far,” Maleta added.
There is an exciting new energy and renewed interest in CBET in Esa’ala District and the local MP who is also the Civil Aviation Minister is committed to driving its development.
Mr Davies is encouraging the growth of tourism under the national government’s Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) business model by pushing the growth of small cottage industries in tourism, agriculture and fisheries in his district. Particularly, in tourism where he sees the most potential for growth, the Member has already supplied laptops and smart phones to local villagers through TEI to grow their business.
Maleta says the next stage now is training for locals on how to use these modern gadgets by connecting onto existing mobile telecommunication networks to market and promote their tourism SMEs.
The Member has also bought a boat aptly named the “Spirit of Esa’ala” which can comfortably seat 48 tourists and ferry them across the d’Entrecasteaux Islands from East Cape to Fergusson and Normanby, as well as the smaller Dobu, Sanaroa, Waiope and Neumara islands on day trips.
MV Sibonai - a yacht which can comfortably sleep four tourists - has also been purchased to cater for overnight and long stay trips for those wanting to fully explore the islands over several days.
A K3 million world class jetty will also be built soon at Sewa Bay to cater for overseas cruise ships which are currently visiting Milne Bay. The Member is keen on developing infrastructure on the islands including all weather roads connecting Sewa Bay to the district headquarters at Esa’ala.
Maleta said with more cruise ships visiting Milne Bay every year and now with plans to develop Alotau into a tourism hub with direct international flights into Gurney Airport from Australia, TEI and the local tourism operators of the d’Entrecasteaux Islands have to step up to realise their full tourism potential.
TEI chairman Mombi Onesimo thanked the national government under Prime Minister Peter O’Neil for bringing such developments right down to the district levels through the disbursement of the District Support Services Improvement Program funds.
“We do not want to be mere bystanders in our own land while outsiders are running the tourism businesses, that’s why our Member through the DSIP is making such developments possible at the district level and we are grateful to our Member and the O’Neill Government,” he said.
Those wanting to visit the magical d’Entrecasteaux Group of Islands of the “Last Eden” can email Maleta at info.esaalatourism@gmail.com or telephone +675 6411399.