Trobrlands

Hotel Sold

By Tim Ward

By Ken Mcgregor

Lae businessman Mr. Danny Wong has bought the Trobriands Hotel, its adjoining trade store

and copra-collection operations

on the Trobriands main island of Kiriwina, off eastern Papua, for

$130,000 from Territorian, Tim

Ward.

Mr. Wong has begun minor refurbishings on the 22-bed hotel, (in need of various repairs and impro vements) and Mr. Ward has moved to Port Moresby.

Mr. Ward is now anxious to pur sue nickel leases in the Sepik River area of NG with the Australian real estate company, Hooker Corpora tion.

Negotiations for the hotel, which over the last two years had become

a popular NG tourist destination, had been on for several months with two interested would-be buyers— Rabaul millionaire, Mr. Bernard Chan, and the territory’s third major airline, Papuan Air Transport, based in Moresby.

Nothing had eventuated, mainly because it was difficult to assess what the various operations were worth at such an out-of-the-way place.

Mr. Chan was more interested in trading and copra operations than the pub, and Patair, heavily com mitted in the travel business through various subsidiaries, was really only after the pub.

Mr. Ward had been asking $120,000 for the lot but as both he and his buyers had difficulty getting an impartial assessment on the over all value nothing ensued.

Then Mr. Wong in March visited the hotel by charter aircraft, made his offer and the sale went through.

The hotel had built up a friendly and leisurely reputation under Tim Ward and his attractive wife Beverly.

Improvements, particularly to the kitchen and laundry areas, are neces sary, however.

With regular air charters at week ends by TAA out of Lae and Patair out of Moresby, travel to the Tro briands looks to have a rosy future, especially if hotel accommodation is upgraded and additional travel tours Introduced.

US tour operator

A big American tour operator, which recently sent an executive to the Trobriands, has plans to operate two tourist buses on Kiriwina. The jperator, Travco, hopes to take hotel guests on tours and also build several seach houses, investing about $20,000.

Meanwhile, Patair’s energetic managing director, Cliff Jackson, still has ambitious plans for deeper involvement in Papuan hotels. Patair will take up an option, closing on lune 7, to buy the Tapini Hotel in i deal worth between $50,000 and 5100,000. He has been negotiating with Inspector Jack Wood mansey, in Sydney, for Woodmansey ;o return to New Guinea as manager at Tapini. Insp. Woodmansey, now with the Commonwealth Police, is i former inspector with the P-NG Constabulary and a Director of Police n Nauru.

Patair is also acquiring a hotel site from Steamships Trading Co.

Ltd. at Alotau, new district head luarters for the Milne Bay area and alans are to immediately build a 12-room hotel with later extensions

to be added when they become necessary.

The company has its eye on a hotel site at Tufi, Northern Papua, and also another site on the southeastern coast of Papua, Its luxury Gateway Hotel at Moresby, with too-few rooms at present, will see a $400,000 extension programme starting probably before the end of the year. A major Australian hotel chain could take a minority share in the Gateway, Patair sees advantages from such a connection, as it would assist with finance and also allow telex connections with other hotels in other areas.

Fiji In Hockey Federation

Fiji has become a member of the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations and is now eligible to be represented at the organisation’s next conference and tournament—to be held in New Zea land in 1971.

The Suva Women’s Hockey Asso ciation has been invited to send one women’s team, and possibly two, to tour Western Samoa this year during its annual independence celebra tions. A team from Lautoka has also been invited to tour Western Samoa.