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Incentives for large scale investment
THE Papua
New Guinea Government has announced major new tax incentives to lure large scale
investments in tourist accommodation facilities. It has announced in its 2007
national budget that where expenditure exceeds US$10 million and the facility
has 150 rooms and provided it is built with 5 years from January 1, 2007. There
will be a reduced tax rate of 20 percent applied. Normal tax rates for companies
operating in PNG is 30 percent. PNG Tourism Promotion Authority chief executive
Officer Peter Vincent welcomed the government incentives, saying more needs to
be done to encourage investment and growth in tourism. Mr Vincent said PNG TPA
will work closely with the government to ensure tourism investment opportunities
are fully realized by individuals or corporations.
Kokoda
figures double
KOKODA Track - Papua New Guinea's fastest growing
tourism icon doubled its figures from 2005 reaching almost 4000 in 2006. A total
of 3745 tourists, mainly Australians, followed in the footsteps of their heros
by trekking the 96 kilometer war time track this year. Kokoda Track Authority
which manages the track earned more than half a million Kina in trek fees. KTA
pumps back a major portion of the money into villages along the track by funding
projects such as schools, aidposts, water supply etc. According to KTA
statistics 1584 tourists walked the track in 2004 and 2374 in 2005.
PNG Dive still ranks
highly
THE cascading kaleidoscope of Papua New Guinea's underwater world continues to mesmerize divers from around the world. The Cyber Diver website in its 2006 World Top 10 - Destinations rates PNG second with a score of 9.90 after the Galapagos - Ecuador (9.93 points). The Maldives, Red Sea and Coco Island - Costa Rica complete the top 5 destinations in that order. Cyber Diver's team of experts, who collectively have logged over 32,000 dives worldwide, rated each destination on the basis of overall dive site quality, marine species abundance, marine species diversity, visibility and the impact of tourist infrastructure on the environment. (Source: www.cyber-diver.com).
Zero-rated GST on international
purchase
BEGINING in 2007, the supply of sea or air travel and
accommodation within PNG for an intending passenger will be zero-rated for Goods
& Services Tax where the passenger purchased the travel and accommodation
outside PNG. These are among other new incentives announced by the Government.
Others include accelerated depreciation at a rate of 55 percent to all tourism
operators in the year of acquisition or improvement to eligible property
acquired for the purpose of tourism in PNG. A double tax deduction will also be
allowed for expenditure incurred on tourism staff training costs. And an
infrastructure tax credit for expenditure on approved infrastructure projects
will be available to operators of a large scale tourist accommodation facility
or substantially improved tourist accommodation facility of up to 1.5 percent of
assessable income.
Tufi
Weekend Educational
PAPUA New Guinea's Australian marketing
representative Sharon Hannaford and several tour operators who are part of our
'Wantok Specialists' did a quick educational to the fabulous Tufi Fjiordlands.
The educational was undertaken with Airlines PNG as it introduced its third
weekly services between Brisbane and Port Moresby on Nov 3, 2006. Before going
to Tufi - the group which included Robin Bayes and Cheerie Foord from Travel
Weekly also did a tour of Port Moresby City with Tropic Tours.
Seoul
Declaration of Sustainable Tourism
PAPUA New Guinea is a signatory to
the United Nations World Tourism Organisation's Seoul Declaration on Sustainable
Tourism. A total of 18 member countries from the Asia-Pacific region signed the
declaration at Kyung Hee University of Korea mid-November 2006. This followed a
focused training program on examining the impacts of current tourism
developments at destinations, giving insight of different kinds of sustainable
tourism and suggesting possible practical measures in maximizing the benefits of
tourism while mitigating the negative impacts on the environment, culture and
lives of the local community. PNG Tourism Promotion Authority was represented by
Planning & Development officer Heni Dembis.
PNG projects to
Pro-Invest
ABOUT 10 eco-tourism project proponents from Papua New
Guinea were represented at the Pro-Invest investment seminar in Vanuatu from Nov
29 - Dec 1, 2006. The EU-ACP organised Profit II meeting held at Le Lagon
Resort, Port Villa was for the project proponents to meet and attract potential
investors and partners from the EU countries as well as Australia and New
Zealand. The PNG project proponents were encouraged by their meetings with
potential investors. The PNG projects include the Boram Beach Resort, Wambu
Wenawena Eco Tourism Project, Historic Kokoda Tracks Ltd, Kabiufa Eco Hideaway
Resort, Kranget Island Adventure Resort, Kokoda Track Resort, South Seas Resort,
Tokua Hotel & Recreational Ltd, Enjoy Mountain Habitat Ltd, and Mt Wilhelm
Hotel Ltd.
2006
visitor stats up
Papua New Guinea continues to record increases in
visitor arrivals this year. The cumulative total for Jan-Oct 2006 saw an
increase of 8 percent or 63,626 visitors compared to 58,934 visitors in the
corresponding period in 2005. The increase is in line with PNG Tourism Promotion
Authority's targeted increase of between 10 & 15 percent in 2006. PNG saw
growth in arrivals from all major source markets, recording the highest increase
from Europe (+47%), followed by Asia (+43%) & Australia (+32%). Arrivals
from America and New Zealand saw positive increases of 22 & 31 percent
respectively.
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