EEP Crowned pigeon number 4

EEP STUDBOOK CROWNED PIGEONS
Tourism
Tourism in Papua New Guinea is relatively underdeveloped. Each year 75.000 foreigners
enter the country, but most of them come for business purposes. The number of tourist
arrivals in Papua New Guinea has fluctuated during the past five years between 33.000 and
43.000. The largest group (but a declining number) is the Australians (40%).
Country Percentage of tourists
of PNG (1995)
Australia 40 %
New Zealand 6 %
Pacific Islands 4 %
United States 11 %
United Kingdom 6 %
Germany 2 %
Other Europe 6 %
Japan 8 %
Other Asia 15 %
Other countries 2 %
(n= 32,578; TCSP, 1996)
Tourism is mainly based, on one hand, on the ethnic and cultural features and, on the other
hand, on the attractive scenery and unspoiled environment. Overall average expenditure per
tourist in Papua New Guinea was estimated at K 1,420 (US $ 1,022), the average daily
expenditure per tourist was K 119.
Total foreign earnings from tourism in 1995 to K 62.8 million (US $ 46.2 million); this
accounted for approximately 1 percent of the GDP, so tourism is still a very small sector of
the economy (TCSP, 1996). Although the scenery and nature of Papua New Guinea are
admired world-wide the number of tourists is very low because of three reasons:
1. It is very expensive to go to Papua New Guinea, because the flights from Cairn,
Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore are extremely expensive. Furthermore hotel
accommodation in Papua New Guinea is also very expensive (TCSP, 1996).
2. Only a few complete holiday packages in Papua New Guinea are offered in western
countries. Because Papua New Guinea does not have a network of accommodation
throughout the country, it is difficult for travel agents to offer a complete journey; only
a few, adventurous people are attracted by this prospect.
3. Papua New Guinea is said to have a very high crime rate, and it is said not to be safe
for tourists (TCSP, 1996).
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