Figures show tourists have spent more than $US100 million in Papua New Guinea in the first half of this year amid hopes to generate much more.
Papua New Guinea tourism: Jais Aben resort in Madang. Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades
PNG has long been pushing to grow its tourism industry, which is small compared to other countries in the region.
A just released survey - the first of its kind - shows tourists have spent US$105 million, and the kinds of visitors who go to PNG tend to stay a long time, and spend a lot of money.
Jessie McComb, from the International Finance Corporation, which helped lead the survey, says this kind of data was invaluable to help grow the industry.
"Papua New Guinea has a unique offering. The International Visitor Survey will help the government and help the industry stakeholders be able to position that offering in a way that appeals to the key markets."