To access comprehensive event details, registration, and the latest updates, please visit the official forum website at www.TLTourismForum.com. The website serves as a central hub, providing easy access to essential information and ensuring a seamless and streamlined participation process.
The Timor-Leste Tourism Investment Forum 2024 is jointly managed by an organizing committee comprising the Vice Prime Minister, the Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, Trade Invest Timor-Leste, and the National Tourism Authority, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) part of World Bank Group. For more information, please visit the official website www.TLTourismForum.

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MDF, which is supported by the Australian government, worked in collaboration with the agents’ group Travel Managers and Airnorth to arrange the trip. The Tourism For All Project brought in a variety of travel operators: hotels, dive centres, restaurants and companies specializing in trekking and cultural tours. Before the “speed networking” event, TFA also held a coaching session for the Timorese participants, most of whom had never experienced a travel trade show before. The event was hosted by Pelican Paradise.

The purpose of the familiarization trip was to showcase the reopening of Timor-Leste following the COVID-19 pandemic. The travel agents were selected based on their interest and clientele’s fit for Timor-Leste and they were taken on two tours: one focusing on marine tourism in Atauro and another cultural tour to Balibo, in Timor-Leste’s coffee country. They also enjoyed a “city experience” in the capital, Dili.

Speaking after the event, MDF (Country Director Timor-Leste) Drew Johnson commented: “It was amazing to see the passion and preparedness of the local operators: very inspiring”.

Darwin-based Personal Travel Manager Lisa Malnar was the only agent in the group who had visited Timor-Leste prior to the COVID lockdown and she was excited about resuming tours to the country. She said that all of the agents were impressed by the “speed networking” event.

“Timor-Leste will be the next hot destination for those that want to take the road less explored. We all felt an overwhelming sense of pride and passion from those involved in the tourism industry and that came across through all interactions we had. We loved learning about the different businesses during the networking event and felt the engagement was positive for not only the local operators but also the agents attending. We can’t wait to start promoting Timor-Leste as destination to Australians. Get ready Timor – your time to shine is coming!”

The Timorese participants also expressed their enthusiasm. Osaias Soares is the President of ATKOMA, the community-based tourism association on the island of Ataúro, a hot spot for marine tourism. “From ATKOMA, we would like to say that the event was fantastic as it helped to connect tourism and hospitality businesses in Timor-Leste with tour agents from Australia and that will help to boost tourism in this country, and particularly Ataúro island, post-COVID-19. The agents’ suggestions helped us to overcome our weaknesses in order to grow better businesses. After this meeting, we believe that there will be more tourists visiting Ataúro”.

Manuel Napoleon is a Dili-based operator specialising in overland tours. His company, Manny’s Timor Tours, hopes to develop cross-border itineraries for visitors looking to visit both Timor-Leste and Indonesian West Timor. He felt greatly encouraged by the “speed networking” session: “I just want to convey my gratitude and pleasure in being part of this event, to both USAID and MDF. I am sure events like these don’t come along very often and these opportunities will surely strengthen Timor-Leste’s tourism industry, which has yet to achieve its full potential. Those couple of hours are the result of hard work from USAID and MDF in supporting local enterprises, and for me personally, it was a great experience in being able to show case what Timor-Leste and Manny Timor Tours has to offer. We hope to be part of a bigger picture in the future”.

TFA and ATKOMA recently instigated a collaboration with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to promote light aircraft flights from Dili to Ataúro. Since the flights were offered in April, they have carried 220 passengers, 50% of whom were tourists and expatriate residents. The organization’s Country Director Nick Hitchins also participated in the “speed networking” event: “I thought it went well. I think it’s immensely useful to have a session like this to help local operators understand what kind of expectations international tourists and agents have. All in all, it was a great event and with a really encouraging, positive vibe”.

The Timor-Leste government is keen to increase the number of tourism arrivals as part of its economic strategy to reduce dependence on the oil and gas industry. In a debriefing session after the “speed networking” event, several of the travel agents mentioned that had proved difficult to access comprehensive information about tourism attractions and facilities online. TFA has been working actively to enhance the private sector’s capacity for e-marketing, whilst strengthening the impact of the national tourism promotion website. Last year, TFA also launched a travel app, Go Timor, in collaboration with private sector partners, which was singled out for praise by the Travel Managers Group.

All photos credit to Ann Turner/ USAID’s Tourism For All Project

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Like many countries around the world, Timor-Leste faces the urgent challenge of finding solutions to manage a growing stream of plastic, which not only harms its environment, but threatens the health of its communities, undermines the potential of its nascent, but promising, tourism industry, and increases its vulnerability to climate and urban flood risks.

In response, Mercy Corps and the Ministry of Tourism, Commerce, and Industry, are cooperating to advance responsible plastic use and circular economy approaches that can deliver effective reduce, reuse, and recycle strategies within the country’s resources. Since December 2021, this initiative aims at boosting the emergence of a growing movement of local changemakers, and the establishment of an inclusive post-consumer plastic value chain that can help Timor-Leste protect its marine and terrestrial ecosystems, preserve the health and safety of its people, bring a measure of diversification to its economy, and add to its small manufacturing base to expand employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Designed in collaboration with the Plastics Solutions Alliance, the goal of the new catalog is to inspire vocations, stimulate demand for recycled content, and connect local upcycling and recycling groups – who often lack exposure, access to partners, and spaces to display and sell their products – with new clients. The publication forms part of a broader series of initiatives focused on empowering communities to prevent plastic pollution and helping local entrepreneurs build innovative businesses, to drive social change, and ultimately, make it more economically feasible to collect, sort and reprocess materials in Timor-Leste.

The Plastics Solutions Alliance is a cross-sector partnership between USAID, KOICA, the European Union, Caltech, Heineken, and Mercy Corps dedicated to accelerating the transition towards a circular economy, whereby unnecessary plastic use is curtailed and replaced, plastic waste is disposed of responsibly and turned into sought-after products, and resource recovery systems support Timor-Leste’s vision to become a recognized tourism destination, respectful of its natural beauty and cultural heritage.

All photos credit to: Mercy Corps

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