Rapopo Resort Now Among World’s Best Hotels

In a PNG first, the Rapopo Plantation Resort, in Kokopo, East New Britain Province, has snatched up the number 20 spot on the Trip Advisor 2018 Travellers’ Choice awards of the top 25 hotels in the South Pacific.

With the announcement, Rapopo Plantation Resort now lands itself among the top one per cent of the best hotels and resorts in the region, just beating the InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana Resort in Bora Bora and other rank-worthy establishments in New Zealand, the Cook Islands and the Society Islands.

James Pang, the owner of Rapopo Plantation Resort and father of renowned PNG mixed martial arts cage fighter Adrian “The Hunter” Pang, said he was humbled by the global recognition bestowed on their small family operation.

He said that the award also represented the great potential of PNG tourism and its unique appeal in the overseas market.

“I don’t want any accolades. I feel happy for Kokopo. I grew up there and I’m happy to be able to give something back to them. We didn’t bring anyone from overseas in to manage the resort, but we’ve done it ourselves and that’s what I am most proud of,” Mr Pang said. “There’s huge potential for tourism, especially in Kokopo and the Duke of York Islands. For the nationals, you’ve got to get your hands dirty. You can’t just employ a manager and say, ‘you do the work.’ You have to be there,” he said.

Culure, Arts and Tourism Minister Emil Tammur also celebrated Rapopo’s achievement.

He said that having a locally owned establishment gain global recognition as Rapopo had, not only served as a booster to other PNG entrepreneurs in the tourism industry, but also reinstated confidence in the potential of PNG tourism amid the barrage of negative publicity that the country has been receiving in recent years.

“Tourism has been declining over the past couple of years due to so much negative representation in the media, but especially overseas reporting on small things where they make it out to be a big deal. For Rapopo to make it this far and make it into the top 25 hotels and resorts in the whole South Pacific is really a huge booster and it brings PNG tourism up to that level where it’s supposed to be,” Mr Tammur said.

“Being the tourism minister, I am proud because Rapopo itself is a 100 per cent nationally owned company,” he said.

(Source: Papua New Guinea Today 29 January 2018)

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