Tour operator commend NVS intervention
LOCAL tour guides and operators across East New Britain Province have highly commended the National Volunteer Service (NVS) for its volunteer placement intervention to deploy highly skilled, national volunteers specialised in the tourism and hospitality sector to boost the provincial economy.
This follows a highly successful collaborative stakeholder awareness session presented by the National Volunteer Service Team organised by the East New Britain Tourism Promotion Authority (ENBTPA) in Kokopo.
The workshop, which brought together local tourism practitioners, hoteliers, eco-tourism site owners, and tour guides, has been widely described by participants as an "eye-opener".
It presented a clear roadmap for how micro, small, and medium tourism enterprises (MSMEs) can directly use national professional volunteers to enhance corporate sustainability and improve service standards.
Under National Executive Council (NEC) Decisions No. 220 and 335 of 2025, the NVS, an agency under the Ministry of Defence, is currently scaling up its workforce to 900 professional volunteers nationwide.
While traditionally focused on health, education, and agriculture, the NVS regional team's strategic focus on the tourism and hospitality sector in East New Britain directly answers the province's developmental pillar to position itself as Papua New Guinea's premier tourism hub.
The sentiment was also shared by ENB Governor, Michael Marum, during a high-level courtesy meeting at the start of the NVS team's week-long visit in the province.
Speaking on behalf of local operators, owner of PNG Tour Guide - East New Britain, Dominic Tula noted that the intervention comes at a crucial time when the cruise ship industry, marine-based tourism, and cultural exhibitions like the Baining Fire Dance are expanding rapidly, increasing the demand for world-class hospitality standards.
"For a long time, local tour operators have struggled with formalising our structures, customer service training, and digital marketing," one operator stated during the session. "This awareness by the National Volunteer Service through the ENB Tourism Promotion Authority has opened our eyes. Being able to host a skilled national volunteer who is an expert in hospitality management or tourism marketing means we can build capacity locally and ensure our businesses are sustainable for the long term," he said.
Through this partnership, host tour operators and hospitality businesses can apply to NVS to have qualified professional volunteers placed within their organisations. These volunteers will focus on:
* Upgrading local hospitality service delivery and customer care standards.
* Conducting knowledge transfer and structural skills training for rural tour guides and eco-lodge staff.
* Strengthening localised destination marketing, digital operations, and eco-tourism preservation.
The ENB Tourism Promotion Authority has urged all registered tourism associations, transport providers, and site custodians to formally submit their Expressions of Interest (EOI) to partner with the NVS to capture this specialised manpower.
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