South Sea Horizons Managing Director, Alan Manning, knows Papua New Guinea better than anyone. His company South Sea Horizons has been taking travellers around Papua New Guinea for over 15 years.
South Sea Horizons has been operating innovative and rewarding small-group experiences in Papua New Guinea and beyond since 2007. They place a strong emphasis on conducting low impact tours and are mindful of the environment we travel through. Their aim is to work alongside local communities to help them develop local tourism products of their own that are sustainable and give back to the region. They are also committed to providing jobs as equal opportunity employers at every level of our business, including our management, guides, porters and cooks.
Travel Monitor caught up for a chat with Al Manning in this week’s Talking Travel and this is what he had to say.
What does your job involve?
Championing Responsible tourism practices in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
How have you tackled the difficulties caused by COVID-19?
Unfortunately, we have had to scale our operations back and wait with anticipation for borders to open, flights to resume, and travel confidence restoration. We take solace that our product is fantastic, and we find ourselves in this situation due to no fault of our own. The world just imploded. Now borders are re-opened and we are returning to some sort of normality, South Sea Horizons is back to delivering our amazing trips for our guests.
Like most of us in the travel industry, we have been struck hard and experienced a crippling loss of revenue. Keeping afloat for 24 months without any income was quite a challenge. We rolled up our sleeves – work 2-3 jobs, and stayed positive.
What do you enjoy most about your profession?
What I love about my job is employing people who would otherwise never have an opportunity for gainful employment. I love creating authentic experiences with the incredible group of guides we have in Papua New Guinea and the impact we can achieve in their lives. For example, recently, one of our guides had the joy of seeing his son graduate from university with a business degree. He will now make a life for himself because of the livelihood afforded to his father through tourism. I love that the most.
What are the biggest challenges for you in your profession (outside of COVID-19)?
Creating awareness that the tourist is responsible for making sure they create a minimum impact on the natural environment and the cultural environment we visit. Also, creating awareness of our people in Papua New Guinea to preserve its culture without diluting their cultural property and the authenticity of their culture.
What do you think are the biggest challenges the industry faces?
Mass tourism is the biggest challenge – if you are looking for authentic experiences that’s the issue the industry faces in Papua New Guinea anyway. Mass tourism is hard to control, and if you lose control you risk losing authenticity and all that comes with losing control.
What destination/travel trend do you think is the next big thing?
That is a hard question. My opinion – I hope people go back to using the expert services of travel agents. For me it is a no brainer with so much uncertainty at the moment, there is great value in having a professional travel agent book your travel. They can help navigate all the hoops nowadays.
What are your thoughts on responsible travel and how do you try to implement this in your workplace?
Responsible tourism is the best way to travel or operate in travel. The more people engaging in responsible tourism the better, safer and more compassionate world of travel. At South Sea Horizons we place a strong emphasis on conducting low impact Responsible tours. We are mindful of the environment we travel through. We aim to work alongside local communities to help them develop sustainable local tourism products of their own and give back to the region. We are also committed to providing jobs as equal opportunities and employers at every business level.
Who inspires you most and why?
Our people of Papua New Guinea inspire me. Wanting to create a better world for them is what they deserve.
What is your must-pack travel item(s)?
Travel wallet – credit card/ passport / insurance.
Who would you invite on your next holiday if you could choose anyone and where would you go?
If it was a trip for myself (kid-free) I wouldn’t invite anyone – I would go to Bougainville Island – Papua New Guinea and travel from the north to the south on an adventure. But alas I have kids – so perhaps Western province – Solomon Islands – to a place called Ghizo. It’s a great location for kids and enough of an adventure for adults too.
Contact Email: tours@southseahorizons.com
