TOURISM TRAINING WORKSHOP IN ARAWA

By Pauline Riman

The PNG Tourism Promotion Authority (PNGTPA) conducted the first tourism business training workshop in Arawa, Autonomous Region of Bougainville (AROB), from the 19th to 30th November 2022.

The MSME tourism business training is a key deliverable in the implementation strategy of the 20222026 Tourism Sector Development Plan, especially the goal of improving the overall quality, diversity and accessibility of PNG’s tourism products and services by training locally owned tourism businesses.

The training in AROB ran for twoweeks, and was delivered by master trainers from the Small and Medium Enterprise Corporation (SMEC) and assisted by Trainer of Trainers (TOT) who have certification from SMEC.

The SMEC trainers applied the ‘Start Your Business’ (SYB) training module, which is certified by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and is taught across 109 countries around the world.

There were 51 local tourism business owners and employees who participated in the training, and each proudly graduated with a SMEC Start Your Business certificate.

Ms. Lorena Ritsi, Acting Secretary for the Autonomous Region of Bougainville Government (ABG) – Department of Commerce and Economic Development, acknowledged and commended PNGTPA for bringing the tourism business training to her region.

“Being the first of its kind for the tourism sector – a collaborative approach for tourism development is needed in the region since AROB was already an emerging tourist destination,” said Ms. Ritsi during the workshop training in Arawa.

She also indicated much more would be achieved through the MOU between the ABG and PNGTPA, which was signed two-months later in February 2023.

“This was the first ever fully certified SMEC training conducted by PNGTPA. Prior to this training, a majority of the AROB tourism business operators who participated had nil training in business management,” said PNGTPA’s Business Development Officer Mr. Dunstan Uluchoe, who is also the project lead for the MSME Tourism Business Training nationwide roll-out.

During his initial scoping exercise in AROB, Mr. Uluchoe observed many local SMEs functioning without proper records, business plans and operational structures.

Mr. Uluchoe further stated, “Many participants were actively running tourism businesses, or employed in the industry, and this made the training more practical for them. Seeing the participants fully concentrating each day and learning business tools was amazing. And most importantly, I got full satisfaction witnessing 51 people – mostly business owners, graduating with enhanced technical skills that have been missing in their business operations.”

Mr. Uluchoe is now working on the post-training monitoring and evaluation: this will guide the second phase of the AROB tourism business training, which involves the ‘Improve Your Business’ training module. Those who have participated and attained the SYB training certificate will be eligible to receive this forthcoming training.

The theme of PNGTPA’s nationwide tourism business training workshop envisions a brighter future for local business operators in the country: “Enhancing Tourism Business Knowledge through Capacity Building” / “Kisim Moa Save Long Strongim Turism Bisnis”. The success of the training in AROB paves a positive way forward for PNGTPA to work with other provincial governments to run tourism business training throughout the country.

The PNGTPA wishes to thank the Government of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, for its support in implementing the capacity building training.