Papua New Guinea Rural Tourism Development Transition

Rural tourism in Papua New Guinea is an underdeveloped sector that is yet to be developed.While Papua New Guinea has great numerous potential to develop its rural tourism sector,there remains a huge challenge for the tourism industry to be develop to its maximum potential.The aim of this research is to describe,assess and evaluate the contributing factors to the impediments of rural tourism development at the local communities of Papua New Guinea.To achieve the aim of this research,a case study has been conducted at two local rural communities within two months in Goroka,Eastern Highlands Province,Papua New Guinea.Both the quantitative and qualitative research methods have been applied in this study.A research model framework has been adapted to test three proposed hypotheses(socio-cultural benefits,stakeholder involvement,and local community involvement)on rural tourism development in these two local communities.A research survey questionnaire was constructed and carried out using a five-point Likert scale,with scores ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree.Interestingly,findings revealed that two proposed hypotheses are significantly supported(socio-cultural benefits and local community involvement)while the other hypotheses is not supported(stakeholder involvement)in this empirical study.The rejected hypotheses confirm the findings of the study where practically there existed minimum or no support or involvement of tourism stakeholders in support of the development of rural tourism in these local communities.The software's SPSS version 22 and SMART PLS 2.0(M3)were employed to analyze the collected data and produce results.A qualitative research method approach was employed to analyze the interview transcripts and policy documents then analyzed.Discussions and conclusions of the results are presented followed by limitation and future research.