Director: Aaron Hayes
Senior tour coordinator - group tours: Daisy Verenagi
Senior tour coordinator - Kokoda trekking: Eileen Salewagen
Tour coordinators - Hugo Ningeara, Wing Wima, Kolen Koiye
Administration and accounts officer: Caroline Sanopo
Senior Kokoda trekking guide: Philip Arari
Driver: Sarea Sarufa

ECOTOURISM MELANESIA is an inbound tour operator specialising in ecotourism experiences in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Our aim is to encourage overseas visitors to travel to the rural areas so that more tourism dollars will go directly into the pockets of local people, giving them a viable alternative to less enviro-friendly forms of income like logging and mining. The company was established in 2003 and is privately owned by Aaron Hayes, an Australian teacher and psychologist who developed an interest in community-based ecotourism after working in the education sectors of Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea for many years and developing strong ties with local people at the village level.
With a full time staff of 10 (and many part-time tour guides in the provinces), Ecotourism Melanesia is now the 5th largest inbound tour operator in Papua New Guinea ... big enough to rely on, small enough to cater to the interests of individual travellers. The company is based in Port Moresby and has a network of handling agents and tour guides in other provinces of PNG and also Solomon Islands. Ecotourism Melanesia is a full member of the PNG Tour Operators Association, the body overseeing professional standards in the inbound tour industry in PNG, and a corporate member of the South Pacific Tourism Organisation, now south-pacific.travel.

Ecotourism Melanesia offers a range of standard and individualised eco-holiday packages for free independent travellers (FIT) and escorted tours for small groups. We also provide customised arrangements for individual clients and groups with special interests (eg volcano watchers) or special requirements (eg logistical fixing arrangements for film crews, research teams and missionary groups). In Port Moresby where we are based, we provide transfers and day trips, and provide ground-handling services for other tour operators, visiting passenger vessels and groups travelling by private charter aircraft. We focus on providing cultural tours and nature tours that enable visitors to get up close and personal with the people of Melanesia and the environment in which they live. From our Port Moresby office our tour coordinators monitor your tour arrangements on a daily basis to ensure that everything proceeds as smoothly as possible, and we provide 24-hour telephone numbers in case of emergency. Ecotourism Melanesia carries full public liability insurance. Some testimonials from clients who have travelled with us can be found here.

Ecotourism Melanesia supports responsible community-based tourism. All tours and packages arranged by this company must include at least one overnight or day trip to a village or other rural attraction operated by local people. This enables us to contribute in a systematic way to the rural economy, which encourages village dwellers to develop a sustainable livelihood in their home areas, where they can draw on the plentiful resources of the land and sea for their food, building materials etc, rather than migrating to urban areas like Port Moresby where high unemployment and poverty are prevalent.

 

Separately, Aaron serves on the committee of the Community-Based Tourism Foundation of Papua New Guinea, a charity organisation that helps rural village people establish guest houses, hiking trails, birdwatching areas, cultural entertainment groups etc that will enable them to earn a living from tourism (donations to help CBTF operate its training programs are welcome).
In 2007, Aaron has also founded the Kokoda Trekking Operators Association , which aims to provide training and support to operators running treks along the Kokoda Trail.

Our first client, Dr Don Allred from the USA who went to the Trobriand Islands in August 2003, here pictured with foundation staff members Relvie Michael and Casmiro Maia. Read more client testimonials here.