Press Statement from the CEO of the PNGTPA, Mr. Eric Uvovo

On behalf of the Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority board, management and staff, I am pleased to officially announce Papua New Guinea’s tourism brand ambassador, Justin Olam. 

Justin recently travelled to PNG and started working with our PNG TPA team on our planned activities and campaigns for this year.

Given the short time with us, he was able to visit some Port Moresby attractions and also travel to Kokopo, East New Britain.

Justin Olam is a remarkable Papua New Guinean athlete who is well-known and respected throughout Papua New Guinea, Australia and the Pacific, as a professional rugby league footballer who currently plays as the Centre for the Melbourne Storm in the Australian National Rugby League.

Tourism in Papua New Guinea has endured a lot of set-backs in recent years – especially with the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic, climate change, and the rise in social law-and-order issues.   Our international and domestic image as a travel destination has hit an all-time low.

In 2022, our Visitor Arrivals Report recorded 69,376 international visitors. Our highest number of annual arrivals was in 2019, when we had 210,980 visitors.

As the national tourism office representing our tourism sector, we continue to show our resilience and commitment despite the economic and social stumbling blocks we continuously face.

The PNGTPA remains true to its mandated role as a non-revenue earning government body, which is to market, promote and develop tourism in Papua New Guinea.

Guided by our Tourism Sector Development Plan (TSDP 2022 – 2026), we are dedicated to developing sustainable marketing campaigns that enhance the image of our destination, as well as encourage travel and tourism in our great nation.

The PNGTPA’s engagement of Justin Olam as our country’s official tourism brand ambassador is one of many crucial steps my organisation is taking to actively promote and market our unique destination, Papua New Guinea – the land of ‘A Million Different Journeys’.

Justin Olam will be engaged as our tourism brand ambassador for a period of 12-months.  In the coming days and months, we will be developing content for our tourism ambassador campaign across the country.

Our marketing campaign messages involving Justin Olam will take the form of TV and online video and print media.   There are two main objectives to our tourism brand ambassador campaign:

• Welcome and Destination Brand Messages: targeting both our domestic and international travellers, particularly our Australian market;
• Social Impact Messages: targeting the general public in Papua New Guinea.

The tourism brand ambassador campaign will be launched next month in August 2023.

We welcome everyone’s support for our tourism brand ambassador Justin Olam, especially our tourism campaign – because we believe that ‘Tourism is Everyone’s Business’. 

Yours in Tourism,
Mr. Eric Mossman Uvovo
Chief Executive Officer
PNG Tourism Promotion Authority

For further information please email acting director marketing, Ms. Alice Kuaningi alice.kuaningi@papuanewguinea.travel | phone: +675 320-0211