Papua New Guinea’s largest hotel chain prioritises major renovations

Three of Steamships Hospitality’s four Port Moresby hotels are in the thick of renovations, with regional expansion and a bet on long-stay demand to follow, Damian Cooper, Head of Division at Steamships Hospitality, tells Business Advantage PNG.

“The rise of international brands is good for everybody.”

“It’s an exciting time. We’ve bitten off a lot, and we are slowly working our way through that,” says Cooper, who took the helm of the Coral Sea Hotels-branded group in February. “It’s no secret we’ve let our portfolio run down. But the board has money tied to the revamp, and we’ll get there.”

Strong progress

The Grand Papua Hotel is centrally located. Credit: Steamships

At the Gateway Hotel near Jacksons International Airport, around 30 per cent of guest rooms have been renovated, with the rest due for completion by the end of this year. The newly reopened lobby has received positive feedback from guests, says Cooper, while the hotel’s 64 apartments are drawing “quite a bit” of international interest.

In Port Moresby Town, the Ela Beach Hotel & Apartments – which Cooper calls “an unknown jewel” of the portfolio – has 42 renovated rooms in its West Wing, with work on its lobby, bar, tower and South Wing rooms starting soon and running through to early next year. The refreshed bar takes on a “cocktail tiki bar” concept, reinforcing its pitch as a weekend destination for Port Moresby residents.

At the group’s flagship Grand Papua Hotel, renovations are proceeding floor by floor, with the entire refurbishment due for completion by early 2027. Work on the lobby, restaurant, bar and function rooms began on 1 July.

“What you will see is a totally new, renovated product,” promises Cooper.

Outside Port Moresby, works are pencilled in at the 88-room Highlander Hotel in Mount Hagen in the first half of 2027. Beyond that, Cooper sees Lae, home to Coral Sea Hotels’ Huon Gulf Hotel, as the bigger long-term opportunity – especially if international flights start up as envisioned at the city’s Nadzab Tomodachi International Airport.

Competition

Cooper isn’t fazed by the growing roster of international hotel brands in Port Moresby aiming to compete with a local legacy brand like Coral Sea Hotels, which has the market covered across three-, four- and five-star properties. Indeed, Steamships Hospitality has its own international brand relationship, in the form of the Marriott Executive Apartments at Harbourside South.

“The rise of international brands is good for everybody. It drives quality, drives competition, keeps everybody on their toes,” he says.

What sets the Steamships group apart, he argues, is decades of trust built with generations of Papua New Guinean families.

“Some of our hotels were open in the ‘60s and ‘70s. A lot of the more senior Papua New Guineans grew up knowing one of our hotels – they may have celebrated their first birthday or Christmas there. Now, they’re bringing their own children back to do the same.”

Demand drivers

PNG’s entry into Australia’s National Rugby League competition in 2028 is also on Steamships’ radar. Cooper expects an initial wave of two-to-three planeloads of visitors per home game, rotating through visiting teams over 18 months before repeat visitation builds – a credibility marker, he says, that “legitimises the market as one that can hold its own.”

The bigger swing factor is the anticipated final investment decision on the TotalEnergies-led Papua LNG project. Cooper expects a similar effect to the earlier PNG LNG project’s 2010 to 2014 construction boom – when room rates sat around K1,000 a night – and to last September’s brief spike during PNG’s 50th independence anniversary celebrations, when premium room rates again broke K1,000.

He expects long-stay accommodation and serviced apartments – geared toward contractors and consultants on extended postings – to be in particularly high demand.

“Anything midscale and up will certainly be in high demand,” he says, although “the parameters have changed” since the last boom, with international brands now well established in the market.

“It’s a bit early to say this demand has started, but I’m pretty sure that’s where we’re headed – in a hurry.”