Ever since the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski wrote about the courtship and marriage ritual of Trobriand Islanders in the 1920s, in books such as “The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia”, these islands have been visited by people interested in the unique cultural expressions of the islanders and the opportunity to see life relatively unchanged for 100 years. Although not easy to get to, the “Islands of Love” attract a steady stream of visitors for other reasons too. The Trobriands, which is part of the Kula Ring, have a matrilineal culture that revolves around cultivation of the yam; a unique version of the game of cricket, originally introduced by Methodist missionaries; together with white sand beaches, coral lagoons and rainforest. Most of the population of 12,000 lives on the main island of Kiriwina. Other major islands are Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava.

Tourism is less than it has been in the past, due to reduced air services to only 4 flights per week from Port Moresby. Some online travel agencies such as Future.Travel provide realtime booking of flights. Sources of cash income are few and the islanders rely to a great extent on remittances from family members working in Port Moresby and Alotau.