Robert Agarobe
The Provincial Governor Robert Agarobe also helped convince the landowners to end the protest. He said to them, “Let’s open the track, we got trekkers, trekking companies out there who want to finalise and book their trekkers to come for this trekking season.”
Robert Agarobe
What About The Sites Reputation & Tourism?
Even Papua New Guinea’s Tourism Promotion Authority chief executive Jerry Agus got involved. He said the closure would damage the reputation of the site and tourism. He stated in an interview, “The word closure of Kokoda Track definitely has negative implications on the tourism industry in this country because you don’t only have Kokoda Track in the entire world, there are other alternative tracks that people can go to.” The Kokoda Tour Operators Association President Sue Fitcher said because the blockade ended so soon, it wouldn’t disrupt tourism. She did state, however, “If we are going to entice more Australians to trek Kokoda, we need to have confidence that the track will remain open, that it’s business as usual, so this kind of disruption does have the potential to be damaging, [however] I don’t think it has been so on this occasion, to any extent.”
What About The Sites Reputation Tourism@