Papua New Guinea Tourism Bill Could Reset Travel Standards After Port Moresby and Goroka Consultations

Written By: Antara Mitra

Antara Mitra

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September 4, 2026 10:27 AM

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Papua New Guinea is approaching a potentially fundamental change in how international travel businesses assess local tourism suppliers. Its final-validation Tourism Bill proposes a National Tourism Register alongside compulsory registration, selected licensing, accreditation ratings, insurance evidence, inspections and enforcement. Port Moresby and Goroka were directly involved in the national consultation process. If enacted and implemented effectively, the system could give travel agents and tour operators a new compliance layer for selecting PNG accommodation, booking businesses and experience providers, although several crucial implementation details remain unresolved.

Papua New Guinea’s hidden tourism story is becoming supplier verification

Papua New Guinea’s Tourism Bill is usually understandable as a governance reform. For the international travel industry, however, the more commercially important development lies deeper inside Part V of the July validation draft.

The proposed legislation would establish a National Tourism Register containing information about registered tourism services, tourism-service licences, tourism products and accredited services and products. Provincial and local government information could also feed into the national system.

This matters because PNG has historically promoted a highly fragmented tourism supply chain encompassing accommodation businesses, transport providers, tour operators, cultural experiences, adventure activities and community-based products across geographically dispersed provinces.

According to the official National Tourism Legislation Review Report, the lack of a national database of tourism operators and products was identified during consultation as a fundamental sector weakness. The review also recorded safety and security as the greatest national barrier raised during the consultation process.

The proposed register therefore has implications beyond statistical administration. It could eventually become part of the infrastructure through which the market distinguishes formally recognised tourism businesses from suppliers operating outside the national regulatory system.

Tourism Bill could create a new compliance chain before a booking is sold

Section 52 of the validation draft divides tourism services into eight broad categories: travel organisation and booking, transportation, accommodation, food and beverage, handicrafts, tourism assets, leisure and tours, and support services. Section 53 then provides that anyone intending to operate a tourism service must apply for registration.

The next layer is more selective. Schedule 2 identifies categories requiring a tourism-service licence. They currently include travel organisation and booking services, accommodation covering hotels and resorts, apartments, lodges and guesthouses, plus leisure, excursion and tour services.

That creates a potentially important B2B distinction.

An overseas wholesaler packaging PNG may eventually be able to ask not merely whether a ground operator has a website or industry affiliation, but whether the local service has completed statutory registration, whether the relevant activity requires a licence, whether that licence remains valid and whether the supplier holds an accreditation rating.

The provisions are contained in the final-validation draft rather than an enacted statute, so none of these proposed obligations should yet be represented to travellers as an operational nationwide licensing regime.

Insurance may prove as important as licensing for international sellers

One of the most commercially significant clauses sits within the general requirements for tourism-service licensing.

The Bill requires an applicant to be a registered business incorporated in Papua New Guinea, maintain a local bank account for PNG-generated business revenue and provide evidence of appropriate insurance coverage where applicable. Similar conditions apply to accreditation.

That provision connects directly with an issue raised during national consultation. The official legislation-review report identified the absence of mandatory insurance requirements among tourism-sector safety concerns and recommended development of an insurance-product framework for tourism operators.

For international tour operators, insurers and destination-management companies, this could become more consequential than a conventional quality label.

A regulated system tying certain supplier credentials to proof of insurance could strengthen due diligence when contracting activities such as guided excursions, accommodation and locally operated experiences. It would not eliminate operational risk, but it could improve the documentary evidence available before a product enters an international itinerary.

Accreditation ratings could introduce a second layer of tourism assurance

The proposal does not stop at registration and licensing.

Section 68 requires the future Authority to establish an accreditation rating system for tourism services, although the detailed criteria and procedures would be determined through regulations.

Schedule 3 presently covers travel organisation and booking services, transportation, accommodation, food and beverage, handicrafts, leisure and tours, and support services.

The National Tourism Policy 2025–2045 provides the broader strategic rationale. According to Papua New Guinea’s official policy, government intends to build tourism standards around quality, sustainability, resilience, accessibility and health and safety, while considering international standards, certification, licensing, accreditation and compliance mechanisms. The policy also explicitly connects stronger standards with meeting international traveller expectations.

That makes accreditation potentially different from simple business registration.

Registration establishes that an operator sits inside the system. Licensing could determine whether specified services are legally permitted to operate. Accreditation and its accompanying rating structure could eventually indicate the level at which a provider meets tourism standards.

For B2B distribution, those distinctions matter.

Port Moresby and Goroka are directly connected with the regulatory blueprint

The inclusion of Port Moresby and Goroka in this story is not geographical decoration.

Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority records show that the national legislation consultation began in the National Capital District from 23 to 25 February 2026, with the official portal documenting the first consultation session in Port Moresby. Eastern Highlands consultations followed from 16 to 18 March, with an official town-hall session documented at the National Sports Institute in Goroka.

The two locations illustrate the national and subnational dimensions of the proposed framework.

Port Moresby is especially significant because the 2025 Visitor Arrival Report identifies the National Capital District, including Port Moresby, as the country’s most visited provincial destination, accounting for 64 per cent in the report’s destination distribution.

PNGTPA and the National Capital District Commission also launched an Accommodation Inventory and Capacity Survey in Port Moresby in July 2026 to build an up-to-date database of accommodation establishments and capacity. That project is separate from the Tourism Bill, but it demonstrates a parallel move towards stronger tourism supply data and evidence-based destination management.

Goroka, meanwhile, represents the Highlands dimension of the consultation and the challenge of implementing national standards across tourism environments far beyond the capital.

Why the proposed trust layer matters to a 130,000-visitor market

Papua New Guinea is not pursuing this reform against a backdrop of mass tourism.

According to PNGTPA’s final 2025 Visitor Arrival Report, the country received 130,408 international visitors by air and sea, compared with 132,725 in 2024. Air arrivals reached 103,881 while cruise arrivals totalled 26,527. Holiday arrivals increased by more than 11 per cent, even as total arrivals slipped by about 2 per cent.

PNGTPA estimates the economic impact of international tourism in 2025 at approximately PGK1 billion or US$244.3 million, based on air-arrival expenditure data. The agency cautions that the figure excludes cruise spending.

The 2025 International Visitor Survey additionally recorded an overall satisfaction score of four out of five, while 92 per cent indicated willingness to return and 88 per cent would recommend PNG. At the same time, official research identified safety, infrastructure, air-transport reliability and cost among areas needing improvement.

This combination explains why stronger supplier assurance could have outsized value. PNG does not necessarily need mass-volume regulation. It needs mechanisms capable of protecting confidence in higher-value cultural, adventure, nature and specialist travel.

The overlooked B2B implication is distribution eligibility

The largest potential information gain from the Bill concerns who becomes easy to contract internationally.

A statutory register containing licence and accreditation status could reduce one of the basic information asymmetries facing overseas agents in emerging destinations. At present, promotional presence, online reviews, local recommendations and commercial references can help assess a supplier, but they are not equivalent to statutory compliance.

If the register eventually becomes externally searchable, global tour operators could potentially incorporate licence status, insurance evidence and accreditation into supplier onboarding. Destination-management companies could favour accredited subcontractors. Specialist adventure operators could document stronger supplier provenance. Insurers could obtain a clearer regulatory trail. Travellers could benefit indirectly because more itinerary components would pass formal screening before reaching the point of sale.

There is an important limitation. The current Bill does not expressly state that the National Tourism Register must be publicly searchable. Nor does it require foreign wholesalers outside PNG to use it when contracting local businesses.

That unresolved interface between government regulation and commercial distribution is precisely what the travel trade should watch next.

Foreign tourism businesses face another potentially important provision

The draft contains a separate section for foreign entities.

Section 69 provides that a foreign entity seeking to operate a tourism service in Papua New Guinea must comply with the regulatory requirements contained in that part of the Bill.

The wording matters.

It should not automatically be interpreted as covering every foreign travel agency that merely sells a PNG holiday overseas. The decisive issue will be what operating a tourism service in Papua New Guinea means once regulations and administrative guidance are issued.

For international destination-management companies, overseas tour operators with an on-ground operation, joint ventures and inbound businesses, this provision therefore warrants close monitoring.

Proposed fees reveal the commercial side of tourism regulation

The validation draft also sets maximum application-fee ceilings.

These are ceilings, not confirmed standard charges. PNGTPA’s consultation FAQ notes that actual fees could be set considerably below the statutory maximums. The national consultation report additionally recommends a tiered fee structure that remains affordable rather than prohibitive.

A tourism licence under the draft could remain valid for no more than five years, while an accreditation certificate could run for no more than three years.

Enforcement makes the proposed credentials materially different

The Bill also provides the future Authority with inspection and enforcement powers.

Authorised officers could inspect premises, activities and records subject to applicable search law. Operating a tourism service without a required licence, breaching licence or accreditation conditions, supplying misleading information or obstructing enforcement could attract an administrative fine of up to K10,000, cancellation of a licence or certification, or both under the validation draft.

That changes the nature of tourism certification.

A badge with no enforcement mechanism principally serves marketing. A credential linked to inspection, cancellation and penalties can become a genuine compliance instrument.

For traveller confidence, this difference is critical.

Latest position on 4 September 2026

The legislative process remains unfinished.

As of 4 September 2026, PNGTPA’s official Tourism Sector Legislation Review portal continues to present the 3 July 2026 final-validation draft and records a validation period from 6 to 20 July 2026 before the next government process. The official FAQ describes the longer pathway as ultimately taking the refined legislation to Parliament for enactment.

I found no subsequent official PNG government notice confirming that the Tourism Authority Act 2026 has entered into force.

Travel businesses should therefore avoid treating the National Tourism Register, statutory licences, accreditation ratings or enforcement regime as operational requirements until enactment and implementation are formally confirmed.

Critical operational takeaways for travel agents and tour operators

• Do not market proposed accreditation as existing certification. The July document remains a validation draft as of the latest official material reviewed.
• Map current PNG suppliers against proposed categories. Booking companies, selected accommodation and tour services appear directly within Schedule 2 licensing scope.
• Begin collecting insurance evidence. Insurance is one of the clearest due-diligence themes linking the Bill with consultation concerns.
• Watch National Tourism Register access rules. Public searchability could determine whether the register becomes a meaningful B2B verification tool.
• Separate registration, licensing and accreditation. They serve different functions and should not be treated interchangeably in contracts or customer communication.
• Monitor foreign-entity regulations carefully. International companies operating on the ground may face different obligations from agents merely selling PNG abroad.
• Retain independent destination-risk checks. Future tourism licensing would not replace government security advice. The UK FCDO, for example, currently advises against all but essential travel to specified parts of Papua New Guinea.
• Prepare supplier contracts for regulatory change. Compliance warranties, licence renewal, insurance status and accreditation could become relevant contracting clauses if the Bill is enacted.

Papua New Guinea could turn regulation into a competitive tourism asset

The strategic significance of Papua New Guinea’s Tourism Bill may ultimately depend less on the creation of another authority and more on whether the government can convert regulation into usable market confidence.

The proposed National Tourism Register, supplier licensing system, insurance requirements, accreditation ratings and provincial databases together outline the beginnings of a national tourism trust infrastructure. For Port Moresby, the country’s principal visitor gateway and data-collection focus, that could strengthen accommodation planning and international contracting. For Goroka and other provincial tourism centres, consistent national standards could help smaller operators demonstrate credibility beyond their immediate markets.

The opportunity is substantial but conditional.

If the eventual register remains internal, regulations become cumbersome or fees discourage smaller businesses, the commercial benefit could be limited. If the system becomes accessible, proportionate and enforceable, however, PNG could give international travel sellers something frontier and specialist destinations often struggle to provide: a government-backed method for identifying formal, insurable and standards-compliant tourism supply before money changes hands.

That would make the Tourism Bill more than institutional reform. It could become a new distribution and traveller-confidence architecture for Papua New Guinea.