Working on a short-term contract employment within the Milne Bay provincial tourism office in 2015, Maleta Tokwakwasi saw a business opportunity.
“I saw that I could be the link between what the villages had to offer and the tourists arriving at hotels. That’s where our company name, VilLink Tours & Expeditions, came from. Short for village link. Our mission is to be the link between the product and the client.”
Resource owners and accommodation providers struggled to market their products and services to domestic and international tourists. “They were building bungalows but couldn’t connect with the tourists.”
“In 2015, of course, there was no internet. Locals were really finding it hard to market their products. I put their information into brochures and distributed them to lodges and town hotels. VilLink started out taking hotel guests out to the villages, and as time went on, we got more popular and cruise tourism came into the picture, and we got contracted to manage the day trips for cruise tourists.”
“I started out with no laptop, no office – doing all my work on my mobile phone. This has all changed now, but back then it was all very basic.”
“Today we’re celebrating 10 years in business!” VilLink now works with a network of locally owned ecotourism, agriculture and conservation-based businesses.
“When COVID hit, we closed for two years. In the tourism industry, COVID saw the end of many businesses. We’re still re-building our business and help is very much needed. It’s a real struggle for small SMEs doing business in PNG without financial help.”
After 7-8 years, Maleta decided to extend her business and branch out into having an accommodation facility.
At this time, VilLink Tours & Expeditions received a grant from BLP, which supported the installation of solar panels in its new accommodation facility. “It’s important that we provide an eco-friendly experience for our guests, consistent with our wellness and sustainability values. The grant was timely and very much appreciated.”
Maleta is currently building new bungalows which will be the first stop for long stay tourists, who then will be taken to the villages. She says it provides opportunities for employment and training to empower locals in her community.
“For me, the business is about supporting our grassroots economy. My interest in community-based tourism is what drives me. We want tourism which revolves around local communities, their education and the development of more sustainable products in rural communities. “
“These cruise ship tourists can bring a lot of money into the village communities. Our focus is on providing a rich experience of village culture, nature and local people. When we take cruise tourists to the villages they are shown our traditional cooking, arts and craft, canoe making and traditional rituals and ceremonial practices through singing and dancing.
ViLink prefers to be involved with the smaller Expedition cruise boats, Maleta says as they tend to visit outer islands as well as the big hubs. “We’re involved in 1-2 cruise boat visits per month which can be between 100-600 people.”
“It’s important that the quality standards are high and consistent.” Providing tourism education to communities plays a big role in Maleta’s life to build both the success of local businesses but also the quality standards offered within communities. She holds mini workshops on tourism to support the education of local people and guide them in developing their tourism products and services.
The new accommodation facility includes an open, traditional meeting room next to the bungalows for training meetings.
Maleta says she is testing this village-based tourism advisory model, which involves advisors working with the community to grow the community.
“In rural or remote areas, the tourism resources like waterfalls are owned by the traditional owners. By partnering with them, we can bring them tourists, and they can get a share of the revenue.” She says this model is something that could be used across the country and other Pacific islands as well.
In other areas, she works with communities to help them maintain their resources. For example, she is helping locals on one island build a boardwalk across the mangrove forest, rather than ignore or destroy the natural habitat. “It’s about educating and supporting owners to protect the environment for the future so that tourists can experience it and give landowners revenue into the future.”
The future of tourism in PNG looks much stronger with Maleta dedicated commitment and energy.
BLP facilitates access to business advisory services and financial support. To start your journey with BLP, you can self-assess your needs by using the free online tools available to help small- and medium-sized businesses diagnose areas in their businesses that an advisor could improve.
The first step can be the online Business Health Check. You can also check your business’s resilience to respond to crises or climate change challenges on the Business Continuity Planner and the Climate Action Sensor. If you prefer to meet a local BLP representative in person to discuss your business, get in touch with our local partners to arrange a face-to-face Diagnostic.