Business Focus Story – From Darwin to Dili: Fostering collaboration between Timorese and Australian tour operators

Tourism is still an emerging sector in Timor-Leste, contributing only 0.5 per cent of GDP. Despite its natural beauty and potential for marine and other forms of tourism, the country is still relatively unknown to travellers. As part of MDF’s work with the private sector to promote the destination and increase visitor flow MDF has facilitated several travel trade connections between local and international tour operators, including a ‘famil’
(familiarisation) trip to Timor-Leste with tour agents from Travel Managers Australia in 2022. The famil tour enabled Travel Managers Australia to experience Timor-Leste’s tourism products and connect with Timorese tour operators. One success story emerging from the famil is the collaboration between Travel Managers Australia and Manny Timor Tours, a locally owned tour operator in Timor-Leste. MDF spoke to Manny Napoleon from Manny Timor Tours and Lisa Malnar, a Darwin-based travel agent with Travel Managers Australia, to understand how Timor-Leste is emerging as a destination of choice for Australians in the Northern Territory.