Papua New Guinea is steadily growing its tourism market in China.
This was evident during the interview with James Qian, the agent at the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority office in Shanghai, China.
The office has been in existence for three years now.
Qian says initially, not many Chinese were aware of PNG. But this has changed now, with visitor numbers to PNG increasing yearly.
“China people love to travel. Most prefer spending their holidays overseas. So this provides a good opportunity for PNG,” he said.
Qian said 2018 will particularly be a good year for PNG.
He noted the direct flight to Shanghai, China around May, 2018. And then the APEC meet in PNG.
Qian said this flight will cut down the travel time, encouraging more. He added that, with more promotion on the APEC, PNG has been featured in many mediums in China, increasing awareness on the country.
At the moment, visitors from China are in hundreds. After 2018, Qian believes that there should numbers should go up to thousands.
But, he says PNG TPA should offer a mixture of tourism packages.
“Chinese people are ready to come to PNG but PNG is not so ready for the Chinese market. Chinese people like to see a lot, experience a lot and also evolve a lot. We would like not only bird watching, but also fishing, trekking, culture, all kind of mixture, snorkelling,” he said.
Qian gave particular credit to East New Britain Province.
“What impress me most is Rabaul – we can see dolphins, war wrecks, sea food, volcanoes. The PNG government should invest more in such a places, to make it a name card for PNG.”