Air Niugini Workshop Equips Stakeholders

Getting China ready was the key yesterday when Air Niugini hosted a China Ready workshop with key stakeholders from the tourism and hospitality sector.
Participants were treated to all the complexities and simplicities that meet the needs and wants of the average Chinese tourist.
Counsellor, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, Liu Linlin, said China and PNG enjoy and complement each other in the tourism industry.
“We are abundant in tourists and in PNG is abundant with world class facilities plus the tourist resources,” he said.
“We have travelled to all these countries, we want something new and exotic and something that will attract attention but we do not realise there is a paradise in the Pacific region and is in PNG.
“So we should raise awareness not only in PNG but in China for PNG.”
Mr Linlin said with visa arrangements ongoing, there would be an increase of tourists into the country.
Of the 122 million outbound tourists from China, only 10 million were passport holders.
Tourism Promotion Authority CEO Jerry Argus, thanked Air Niugini for the initiative and called on stakeholders interested in the Chinese market to take on their requirements in order to tap into the benefits its can offer for the industry and country.
“Chinese market is one very important markets, but in terms of marketing and promotions, we can’t use the generic marketing strategy to market in the Chinese market,” he said.
“It is quite different from other markets and you need to understand it properly in terms of consumer behaviour and demographics of the market and that also comes back to the tourism products and services.
“What you and I think is the best tourism product that we need to offer to our tourists but might not be relevant to Chinese tourists.”
China Ready training and accreditation prepares people and businesses for the opportunities and challenges of engaging with China and the Chinese.
Air Niugini CEO Simon Foo said flight to Shanghai will operate out of Port Moresby on Tuesdays and Fridays, with returns on Wednesday and Saturday.
“From the flights we will connect every domestic ports because of the volume of people coming in. We would like some of them to split up to various parts of PNG,” he said.
 
(Source: Papua New Guinea Post-Courier November 2017)