Port Moresby hotels spend big ahead of anticipated visitor influx
Arrivals into Port Moresby are expected to grow substantially in the coming years. Business Advantage PNG provides a roundup of the big investments being made by PNG’s hotel operators in anticipation of this growth.
Airways is turning its classic Douglas propeller plane into a unique guest experience. Credit: Airways
Excitement is in the air in PNG, as the country prepares to join Australia’s National Rugby League in 2028 and host major international events such as APEC in 2033. Moreover, there is growing optimism around TotalEnergies reaching a final investment decision on its Papua LNG project in 2026.
With all this activity on the horizon, it is no surprise that Port Moresby’s major hotel operators are all investing in upgrades.
PNG’s largest hotel operator, Coral Sea Hotels (Steamships Hospitality) is in the process of upgrading six of its eight properties.
“The renovation program for most of our hotels is on the track to success, as we all witnessed with the reopening of the Gateway lobby, which is simply stunning,” Simon Martin, Chief Operating Officer of Coral Sea Hotels, tells Business Advantage PNG.
“We are very confident that the designs, which value Papua New Guinea, will please our business travellers and a developing leisure market, including lots of PNG residents and nationals.”
Coral Sea Hotels is also modernising the Grand Papua Hotel in Port Moresby with a two-year project which includes a redesigned lobby, bar, a show kitchen concept restaurant, upgraded guest rooms and a reimagined 15th floor featuring an executive lounge, sky bar and presidential boardrooms. Down the road, it is refurbishing the Ela Beach Hotel & Apartments.
Outside of the capital, Coral Sea Hotels is planning upgrades to the Highlander Hotel (Mount Hagen), Bird of Paradise Hotel (Goroka) and Huon Gulf Hotel (Lae) this year.
Additional phases of
development are planned at the Star Mountain Plaza in Port Moresby. Credit: BAI
Retail and cinemas
The Mineral Resources Development Company’s (MRDC) Star Mountain Plaza is home of the Hilton Hotel & Residences, with additional phases planned.
“I want to make Star Mountain Plaza a destination, so that everybody, when they come to Port Moresby, it’s the first place they want to see. Because you’vegot everything: hotels, office facilities, a cinema, apartment buildings,” MRDC Managing Director Augustine Mano tells Business Advantage PNG.
“We’re also planning a big shopping mall and a green zone with a water park for families.”
Ryan Mikkelson, General Manager at Hilton Port Moresby Hotel & Residences, says the Hilton had a positive year in 2025, assisted by a jump in traffic from Kokoda trekking groups and international sporting groups. He expects the upcoming NRL inclusion will further ramp things up.
“You will have those die-hard fans that travel for every game; what that number looks like will vary between clubs but there will be a lot of people coming from media and officials as well,” he says.
Unlocking each asset’s potential
Anne Busfield, portfolio manager at IHG, operator of Port Moresby’s Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Crowne Plaza, is also excited for the impending NRL influx.
“Our focus as a business is unlocking the potential of each asset, and for Holiday Inn we’ve got the beer garden, we’ve got the Gecko Bar,” she tells Business Advantage PNG. “There’s a lot of outdoor spaces there and from a strategy point of view we want those to be NRL-ready by 2028.”
Other wins at IHG include the recent refurbishment of the Faya Haus restaurant at the Holiday Inn and the ongoing success of Port Terrace at the Crowne Plaza, as well as the company’s external catering service at APEC Haus.
“The growth for us as a company is very much linked to our credibility and reputation in the local market,” Busfield says. “We also have very distinct brands here, so we have the ability to meet the demands and the needs of different market segments, which I think is quite unusual.”
Meanwhile, IHG has announced a partnership with Gulf Province Properties Limited to open PNG’s first InterContinental hotel in Port Moresby in 2028.
International branding
At the time of writing, the Stanley Hotel & Suites in Port Moresby was scheduled to start trading as the Sheraton Port Moresby Stanley Hotel & Suites in August 2026 under a deal with Sheraton parent company Marriott International.
The hotel is in the middle of a K30 million upgrade that will see it have 378 rooms, two restaurants, a bar and cafe, an infinity swimming pool, and a 2,500 square-metre conference facility upon completion. The renovation of the lobby area and the Rainforest Bar began last November, but the hotel says that “normal hotel operations will continue as usual.”
Ready for take-off
Meanwhile, Port Moresby’s Airways Hotel is also undergoing a huge renovation of the existing rooms, beginning with the Dakota Wing, starting in the next year.
The hotel’s owner, the Constantinou Group of Companies, is also focusing on the Jacksons Heights development next door, where it intends to construct more than 1,000 residential lots and a new shopping mall.
Airways is also doing something innovative with its classic Douglas propeller plane – part of PNG’s aviation history – by turning it into a special hotel room.
“The Airways plane is a local icon for Papua New Guinea and one of the many features that makes our hotel unique,” George Constantinou, Group Chairman and Governing Director of the Constantinou Group, tells Business Advantage PNG.
“We’re pleased to be able to turn our plane into a unique guest experience in Papua New Guinea.”
Staying overnight in a historic airplane is not only a good business idea but might serve as a metaphor for PNG’s hotel sector as a whole, which looks set to take off in 2026.
