MBP organizes cruise ship industry

Toursim stakeholders in Milne Bay, particularly those involved in cruise ship tourism are banding together to better organize their ground approach to visitors this year.

Under new management at the Milne Bay Tourism Bureau, it's a great way to start the year.

A stakeholder meeting held recently to discuss the issue of receiving visitors at the Alotau PNG Port Facility was a priority for the new management under Mimosah Mark.

She invited tour operators, bus and taxi association representatives, tour guides and tourism line agencies to a round table talk, addressing the concern the number of players in cruise tourism had grown and currently, there was no control and flow as to how they can do this in an orderly fashion and still allow for everyone to benefit.

"When we say that we're talking about transport, how the buses come in, the vehicles come in and go out, how we station us, where we station our tents, and whether we're going to allow buses and taxis to be parked nearby or a bit further down. So that's a type of system that we want to reintroduce again.

"I know there's going to be a lot of hard work put into it, but I think that we've got all the right people behind us to support that".

It’s been 12 years since Milne Bay opened up to receiving cruise ships, they remain the country’s first port of call and are always on their toes in aligning the industry given the burden of making the right kind of first impression.