Solomon Islands tourism revives

Saturday, 07 Jun, 2023 0

Solomon Islands’ tourism arrival figures show it has recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The Q1 2023 Solomon Islands tourism arrivals equalled the same period in 2020 just before the country shut down borders.

It then stayed closed for more than 800 days.

The Solomon Islands National Statistics Office data reveals a total of 3,940 international visitors travelled through Honiara International Airport between January and March 202.

Australia was the source of over one-third of all arrivals with a total of 1,426.

The biggest growth market is the US where numbers increased from 208 in Q1 2020 to 351.

Arrivals from Papua New Guinea rose by 22.2% but Fiji declined 9%.

New Zealand tourist arrivals also showed a slight dip.

Tourism Solomons acting CEO Dagnal Dereveke said there is hope the New Zealand market will improve as Solomon Airlines’ this week started an Auckland-Port Vila-Honiara service.

“Our international marketing strategy remains fixed on promoting core product offerings where we hold a competitive edge,” Dereveke said.

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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.