In the lead up to the Easter break some 250 anglers from overseas and within PNG will converge on the capital of East New Britain Province, Rabaul, to compete in the National Game Fishing Titles over nine days.

Commencing the week prior to Easter, on Saturday April 3, and running each day through to Easter Sunday (April 11), teams will fish the cobalt waters surrounding Rabaul town and the still active volcano, Tavuvur, which overlooks the impressive Simpson Harbour.

With the St Georges Channel right on the doorstep of Rabaul, anglers will have the chance to test their skills against the marlin, yellow fin tuna,wahoo and sailfish that call this area home. The channel itself is one of the deepest in the world at 2400 fathoms and as a highway for roaming pelagic species, a perfect location for the National Titles.

Anglers will also come across pods of whales and dolphin that are part of the rich diversity of sea life that New Britain, and nearby New Ireland, boasts.

The organizers have planned a number of on-shore activities for anglers and their guests with day tours by bus to cultural and historical locations in the area. Rabaul and the Gazelle Peninsula where the scene of heavy fighting during the Second World War, when the army and navy of Imperial Japan invaded and occupied Rabaul.

The invading forces moved under ground in an attempt to avoid the fierce bombing from the combined Allied Forces and the remnants of the network of caves and tunnels that were dug can still be inspected.

Mighty Tavuvur erupted in late 1994 causing major devastation in Rabaul Town with the once beautiful city completely covered in volcanic ash. Tavuvur continues to pump out huge clouds of ash and dust that to this day fall on the site of the old town. Nearby Kokopo, and on the opposite side of Rabaul Harbour, now holds sway as the commercial centre with the majority of the business community establishing new premises to continue life in Rabaul.

Tournament hosts, the New Britain Game Fishing Club, have assembled an extensive prize list for competing anglers with naming rights sponsors Mobil Oil and Shimano making substantial contributions to the event.

Consort Express Lines have also taken a major sponsor role for the 2004 National Titles shipping fishing boats from as far as Port Moresby to compete in the event. Teams from the Lae and Madang Game Fishing Clubs are included on the list of clubs sending their boats with Consort Express.

Long term sponsor EMTV, the national television station in Papua New Guinea, will again be a major sponsor and the now very practised crew will be on hand to capture the event on land and from the sea aboard the competitor's boats. Their annual production of the National Titles video tape is keenly sought after as a memento of the event.

The New Britain Game Fishing Club has established a web site for the National Titles through sponsorship from Global Internet and details of the up coming Titles can be found at www.nbgfc.com.pg. The site has details of accommodation, entry details and transport for anglers travelling from outside PNG for the National Titles.

Game fishing in Papua New Guinea has many friends and none more so than the Tourism Promotion Authority, who as part of their task to encourage visitors to PNG provides real support to the GFAPNG to ensure the 29th GFAPNG National Game Fishing Titles are an unqualified success.

The Tournament Director for the National Titles, Nick Lyons, can be contacted in Rabaul on 982 2022 or by email on: rmi@datec.com.pg.

LUKIM PNG 2004 - A MAJOR SUCCESS

NEARLY every tourism product imaginable from across Papua New Guinea was on display at the Lukim PNG Nau Tourism Expo at the Holiday Inn in Port Moresby on March 5 to 7. More than 3000 people from all walks of life, including students from the National Capital District, came in bus loads to see and learn more about the natural as well as the cultural attractions of Papua New Guinea. They were all very impressed with what they saw, including Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. Sir Michael urged the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority and the PNG Tourism Industry Association to continue to promote all the natural wonders and beauty that we can offer tourists. From the tranquility of the islands, to the magic of the highlands and the mystery of the Sepik or just the pure magnificence of Milne Bay and Madang, each of the 34 booths had that special touch about them. It was also an eye opener for many of the visitors as they simply were not aware of what PNG has on offer in terms of eco-tourism, fishing, diving, trekking, surfing, bird watching, sight seeing or just a relaxing getaway. Be it in Alotau, Vanimo, Kavieng, Rabaul, Tufi, Madang, Wewak, Buka, Kimbe, Tari, or Loloata Island. One Grade 12 student said their visit was part of their school project on tourism and the expo provided them with the perfect opportunity to expand on their project. "This expo is bigger than what we had imagined. There are just too many beautiful things about our country that we take for granted. We should have more of these expos in future," she said. PNGTIA organizing Chairperson Vilia Lawrence said the expo was a great success and the turnout was overwhelming, it was more than organizers had expected. Ms Lawrence said one of the objectives was to create awareness and the visitors, especially students were informed of many subjects relating to tourism. The Media Council of Papua New Guinea sponsored two awards for the Overall Best Booth and Encouragement Awards. The PNG Tourism and Business Directory and Kokoda Trekkers won the Overall Best Booth Award. Steven Mago and his group from the Kundiawa Tribal World Hotels and Adventures won the encouragement award. The prize is K5000 worth of advertising in any mainstream media for both winners. The TPA and PNGTIA would like to thank all sponsors, industry members and the public for making Lukim PNG Nau 2004 a great success - see you all at Lukim PNG Nau 2005.

We would like to make a special offer to your company and its staff. Agamemnon, opening at Moresby Arts Centre on the 21st April, is one of the world's oldest surviving plays, being 3000 years old, and the subject of literature and drama studies in many countries. The play is a tale of sacrifice, revenge and the blood curse of the House of Atreus. King Agamemnon, has successfully lead a fleet of 1000 ships against the fabled city of Troy, and after 10 years of fighting he has retrieved his brother's wife Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world and a daughter of Zeus. But the brothers are under the terrible blood curse of their house and their victory comes at a great price. In order to appease the gods to get favourable winds for his ships, Agamemon gave to the gods a sacrifice by his own hand of his virgin daughter. For such an act, vengence will wait for him on his return home. The play will also be filmed for use by drama students overseas, especially the USA. MAT would like to offer your company a corporate package that might allow your staff to come as a group. Show nights are: Wednesday 21st to Saturday 24th April and Wednesday 28th April to Saturday 1st May. Tickets are normally K40 adults and K10 students. On Wednesday 21st and Wednesday the 28th April, we will be selling tickets at K10 each since POM Productions will be filming the play and require access that may affect the audience. For the other nights we would like to offer your company a special discount, selling tickets at K30 each for any block booking of 20 seats or more.

TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE AT ELA BEACH HOTEL, BOROKO FOODWORLD. FOR SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS OR BOOKINGS RING RUSSELL ON 325 7171.

Stage director is Russell Jackson (Holy Grail, The Young Ones, Mr Bean). Film director is Erik Andersen of POM Productions. Choreography is by Dobi Kidu. Dancers are from the Siale dance group.

More info. at www.agamemnon.com.pg Security by Securimax.

Yours sincerely,
Russell Jackson,
President,
Ph: 325 7171,or 687 4844,or 323 4277, or 325 3503

THE elegant 128-passenger Clipper Odyssey adventure cruise liner arrived in Port Moresby on March 20, on a six-day cruise to some of Papua New Guinea's most natural and undisturbed outer islands. Organised by United States based Zegrahm Expeditions, the cruise also included Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, Palau, Yap, Japan and San Francisco. Two lots of passenger - one from a tour of the highlands and another flying in from Cairns, Australia - set sail from Port Moresby on the evening of March 20, for Milne Bay, Rabaul and Kavieng before traveling on to the Micronesian group of islands. Captain Frank Allica said this was the Clipper Odyssey's fifth visit to PNG and they are always excited about coming back because of its fascinating people and their colorful cultures and traditions. Captain Allica said Clipper Odyssey is special because goes to places where large cruise vessels cannot go, giving its passengers a much closer encounter with the environment and its people. The vessel always carries 10 zodiacs on board for excursions to the smaller villagers and islands. "Papua New Guinea is definitely a highlight of our trip. It's a lovely place, it's got good dive sights, wonderful natural attractions and the people in all the places we go to are just nice and friendly," he said. The 79 passengers onboard the Clipper Odyssey watched local canoes plying the waters of the Watts Island, in the Engineer Group in Milne Bay on the morning of March 21. Followed the next day by an introduction to the rich cultural history of the Kula Ring - a circular pattern of ceremonial trade relations that binds the islands of Milne Bay, especially the Kitava and Narutu Islands in the Trobriands and Iwa Island in the Marshall Bennett group of islands. The expedition also traveled to the volcanic town of Rabaul, and then onto to Tingwon and Tsoi in New Ireland before crossing the Pacific Ocean towards Micronesia.

PAPUA New Guinea will be among 27 Pacific Islands States and Territories participating at the 9th Festival of Pacific Arts to be staged in Belau, Republic of Palau. The Papua New Guinea National Cultural Commission will lead a 120-strong delegation for the July 22 - 31 festival. Culture & Tourism Minister Nick Kuman said the National Government would allocate K200, 000 to support PNG's participation in Palau. Executive Director of NCC and chairman of the PNG Organising Committee Dr. Jacob Simet said as the largest nation in the Pacific, PNG was sending the biggest delegation to display its rich cultural and traditional dances, costumes, artifacts and other art forms. The delegation will also include traditional dancers, theatre artists, musicians, other individual artists, exhibitors and officials. Traditional dance groups will represent the four regions of PNG including Central Province, East Sepik, Chimbu and East New Britain. "Coming from cultural backgrounds which are still very much intact, vibrant, and with a high degree of diversity, we are not aware of its uniqueness and fragility. Participation at this festival not only gives us the chance to see what our Pacific neighbours have but also what we ourselves have," said Dr. Simet. The PNG Tourism Promotion Authority has supported its sister organization by donating K5, 000 towards NCC's fundraising drive to raise a total of K700, 000. The Festival of Pacific Arts was first initiated in 1972 by the member states and territories of the South Pacific Commission (now the Pacific Islands Forum). The aim of the festival was to combat the rapid erosion of its traditional and cultural way of life which for a long time was suppressed by western cultural influences. The festival has been every four years since with New Caledonia being the last host nation. PNG hosted the festival in 1980.

Tour Operators, visitors, corporate houses, individuals and the general public are welcome to make comments or contributions to the PNG Tourism Promotion Authority Monthly Newsletter. All correspondence to:

Colin Taimbari
The Public Relations Coordinator
Ph: (675) 320 0211
Fax: (675) 320 0223
E-mail: ctaimbari@pngtourism.org.pg
Website: www.pngtourism.org.pg