Crime pushing tourists away from Lae city

 

OVERSEAS visitor numbers to Papua New Guinea's industrial hub of Lae has declined drastically due to increased law and order problems.

Long time Lae resident and businessman Sir Bob Sinclair said safety and security to be the biggest concern among visitors.

"We’ve seen in the media, cases where tourists come into the province and have either got robbed or killed.

"How do you expect international visitors to come over to Lae when such things happen to potential clients of the tourism industry?" Sir Sinclair asked.

He explained that it is not thousands, rather a little over 100 foreign visitors that come into the province, and unlawful conduct of people in the city is a factor that has pushed visitors away.

"Tourism is an industry that people want to come and enjoy activities and visit attractive sites for their holidays.

"So far very little of this has been experienced in Lae and it is quite disappointing to see that.

"People really need to change the way they view tourists and try to be more friendlier to them as this is an area that not only brings revenue into our economy, but it also promote the province as a tourist destination," he added.

Sir Bob said despite numerous hotels and guest house facilities being erected in and around Lae city, not many visitors have been visiting the city to make use of them.

He said 20 years ago, the city had a vibrant industry where hotels had 10 per cent in their clientele but this has gone down to only one per cent in recent years.

He made reference to the Lae Golf Course as one area where tourists often attend but this hasn’t been the case lately.

"It would cost about K250 for a person to use the golf facilities in Singapore and this is quite the opposite compared to Lae, where one would only spend a little over K20 to use the facilities.

"So there is potential but locals around the city need to change their behaviour and this will attract visitors into the province," he said.

Meanwhile Sir Bob is appealing to the local people residing in and around the city to change their mindsets if they want to see greater development and outside visitors entering the province.

Lae is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor from the Highlands region to the coast and near the delta of the Markham River. It is the largest cargo port of the country and is the industrial city for Papua New Guinea.