Plans are underway to stage the Kokoda Track’s 75th Anniversary celebration next year.
Kokoda Track is a single-file foot thoroughfare that runs 96 kilometres overland through the Owen Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea.
The track was the location of the 1942 World War II battle between Japanese and Australian forces in what was then the Australian territory of Papua.
It runs from Owers Corner in Central Province, 50 kilometres east of Port Moresby, across rugged and isolated terrain which is only passable on foot, to the village of Kokoda in Northern Province.
Tourism Minister Tobias Kulang said the anniversary is important to both PNG and Australia as Kokoda is not just about commercial value for tourism but also about preserving the historical value.
“The anniversary is about incorporating the aspiration of the local people as well and the bilateral relationship between the two countries and this is an opportunity we must capture properly,” he said.
Kulang said that the Kokoda Track 75th Anniversary is also an occasion where PNG will have to sell itself as a tourism destination.
Kulang said that PNG tourism is largely undiscovered basically because of the bad image portrayed in the international media.
“We are going to put PNG back on the world map as a best tourist destination with the way we are going to approach the 75th Anniversary of Kokoda Track.
“I want it to be a big celebration firstly with the neighbours in Australia.
“The Tourism Promotion Authority is going to take full coverage of that to make sure that while celebrating the anniversary, we are going to market this country in a whole new dimension,” Kulang said.
He stressed that the Kokoda Track is the biggest thing as far as tourism is concerned and it’s the forefront in carrying the PNG flag to market PNG.
Kulang thanked Australia for their commitment and support towards the Kokoda Initiative.