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ANNUAL REVIEW OF VISITOR ARRIVALS IN PACIFIC

ISLAND COUNTRIES

2016

May, 2017

II

Report prepared by : Research & Statistics Division

Contacts : Elizabeth Ragimana ([email protected])

Jennifer Butukoro ([email protected])

Published by the:

South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO)

GPO Box 13119

Suva, FIJI

Telephone : (679) 3304177

Facsimile : (679) 3301995

Telex : 2306 FJ

Email : [email protected]

© Copyright 2017 South Pacific Tourism Organization

May 2017

mailto:[email protected]



III

Table of Contents

Contents Pages

Preface V

Definition and Concepts VI

Sources of Information VI

1. World Overview 1

2. Tourist Arrivals in the Pacific ACP & SPTO Member Countries 2

3. Market Performances 6

Australian Market 6

New Zealand Market 7

United States of America Market 8

United Kingdom Market 9

Europe Market 11

Japanese Market 12

Chinese Market 13

Other Asia Market 15

Pacific Islands Market 16

4. Destination Analysis 18

(Only countries with complete data)

American Samoa 18

Cook Islands 19

Fiji 20

French Polynesia 22

Kiribati 22

New Caledonia 24

Palau 25

PNG 26

Samoa 27

Solomon Islands 28

Tonga 30

Tuvalu 31

Vanuatu 32

5. Destination Analysis by sea arrivals 34

Annex Table 1-4

IV

Tables & Figures

Figure W1: World Tourist Arrivals by % Growth, 2016 .............................................................................. 1

Table R1: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, 2016 ......................................... 2

Figure R1: Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, 2016 ....................................... 3

Table R2: Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Source Market, 2016 ........... 4

Figure R2(a): Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Source Market, 2016 ..... 4

Figure R2(b): Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Purpose of visit, 2016 .... 5

Table R3: Australian Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016 .................................................................... 6

Figure R3: Destination Share (%) of the Australian Market, 2016 ............................................................... 7

Table R4: New Zealand Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016 ............................................................... 7

Figure R4: Destination Share (%) of the New Zealand Market, 2016 .......................................................... 8

Table R5: USA Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016 ........................................................................... 9

Figure R5: Destination Share (%) of the USA Market, 2016 ....................................................................... 9

Table R6: UK Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016 ............................................................................. 10

Figure R6: Destination Share (%) of the UK Market, 2016 ....................................................................... 10

Table R7: Europe Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016 ....................................................................... 11

Figure R7: Destination Share (%) of the Europe Market, 2016 .................................................................. 12

Table R8: Japanese Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016 .................................................................... 12

Figure R8: Destination Share (%) of the Japanese Market, 2016 ............................................................... 13

Table R9: Chinese Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016 ..................................................................... 14

Figure R9: Destination Share (%) of the Chinese Market, 2016 ............................................................... 14

Table R10: Other Asia Market by Destination and Share, 2016 ................................................................. 15

Figure R10: Destination Share (%) of Other Asia Market, 2016 ............................................................... 16

Tbale R11; Pacific Islands by Destination and Share, 2016 ....................................................................... 16

Figure R11; Destination Share (%) of the Pacific Islands Market, 2016 .................................................... 17

Figure C1: Tourist Arrivals in American Samoa by Source Market, 2016................................................ 18

Figure C2: Tourist Arrivals in American Samoa by Purpose of Visit, 2016 ............................................. 19

Figure C3: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Source Market, 2016 ....................................................... 19

Figure C4: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Purpose of Visit, 2016 ..................................................... 20

Figure C5: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji by Source Market, 2016....................................................................... 21

Figure C6: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji by Purpose of Visit, 2016 .................................................................... 21

Figure C7: Tourist Arrivals in French Polynesia by Source Market, 2016................................................. 22

Figure C8: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Source Market, 2016 ................................................................ 23

Figure C9: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Purpose of Visit, 2016 ............................................................. 23

Figure C10: Tourist Arrivals in New Caledonia by Source Market, 2016 ................................................. 24

Figure C11:Tourist Arrivals in New Caledonia by Purpose of Visit, 2016 ................................................ 25

Figure C12: Tourist Arrivals in Palau by Source Market, 2016 ................................................................. 25

Figure C13: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Source Market, 2016 ........................................... 26

Figure C14: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Purpose of visit 2016 ........................................... 27

Figure C15: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Source Market, 2016 ............................................................... 27

Figure C16: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Purpose of visit, 2016 .............................................................. 28

Figure C17: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands by Source of Market, 2016 ........................................... 29

Figure C18: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands by Purpose of Visit, 2016 ............................................. 29

Figure C19: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga by Source Market, 2016 ................................................................ 30

Figure C20: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga by Purpose of Visit, 2016 .............................................................. 31

Figure C21: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Source Market, 2016 .................................................................. 31

Figure C22: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Purpose of Visit, 2016 ............................................................ 32

Figure C23: Tourist Arrivals in Vanuatu by Source Market, 2016 ............................................................. 33

Figure C24: Tourist Arrivals in Vanuatu by Purpose of Visit, 2016 .......................................................... 33

Table R12: Tourist Arrivals by sea to the Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries, 2016 ..................... 34

Figure R12: Destination share (%) of sea arrivals to the Pacific ACP and SPTO, 2016 ............................ 35

V

PREFACE

The Annual Review of Tourist Arrivals in Pacific Island Countries in 2016 is the second series

published by the South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO). This report presents a review of

tourist arrivals in Pacific Island countries for the year ending 2016 with comparative analysis for

the same period of the previous year.

Of the seventeen Pacific Island countries, Thirteen responded with the required data. The

remaining countries either submitted partial data or did not submit data at all. SPTO will

continue its efforts to collect data from all member countries for inclusion in the next review.

In addition to this regular publication, SPTO also produces:

the pocket-sized SPTO Facts & Figures

Air and Cruise Visitor Survey reports that have been implemented in some selected

Pacific Island countries

Monthly Market Intelligence Newsletter

Quarterly Review of Tourist Arrivals

Key highlights

o International tourist arrivals grew by 3.9% in 2016 with Asia and the Pacific region led

growth at 8.4%.

o Tourist arrivals to the Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries grew by 3.7% in 2016

fuelled by rising arrivals by majority of the countries in the region.

o Tourist arrivals to the region by major source markets posted growth of 4.2% in 2016

following 3.4% rise in 2015.

o Traditional source markets Australia and New Zealand continued to dominate the region

and accounted for 52% share of the total tourist arrivals in 2016.

o By purpose of visit, leisure/holidays remain by far the largest segment of arrivals in the

region in 2016 at 66.2% share.

o In this edition, the destination analysis coverage expanded by including sea arrivals. A

summary of the visitor arrivals by purpose of visit is also featured in this report.

o Arrivals by sea reached 1,059,152 in 2016 with cruise arrivals accounting for 99.8%.

This brings total visitor arrivals (both air and sea) to the region to 3,089,681 in 2016.

VI

DEFINITION AND CONCEPTS

The Regional Conference on Measuring Tourism held in Nadi in March 2014 under the auspices

of the South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) agreed to adopt the following definitions and

terms recommended by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and United

Nations Statistical Office in the compilation of tourism statistics:

The term ‘tourist’ describes a person visiting a country other than that in which he/she has

his/her usual place of residence for any reason other than following an occupation remunerated

from within the country visited.

The definition covers two categories of tourists, namely,

Tourist: Tourist staying in the country visited for at least one night and not more than one

year. However, the term ‘tourist’ is also used in the text of this report

interchangeably for better reading but with the same meaning.

Excursionist: Tourist who does not stay overnight in the country visited – this report does not

include this.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

All sources of statistical information contained in this publication are acknowledged at the foot

of each table – mainly the national statistical offices and national tourism offices.

The source of information for tourist arrival statistics in all member countries is the

E/D(Embarkation/Disembarkation) immigration arrival card. All 17 PIC member countries of

SPTO have different E/D arrival card containing the required categories of information, which

help distinguish tourists from other passengers and compile statistics according to the

internationally accepted definitions and concepts to facilitate inter-country comparisons. The

Regional Conference on Measuring Tourism held in Nadi in 2014 proposed the introduction of

standard E/D Cards for Pacific ACPs and SPTO Member Countries, however, these

introductions have yet to be made.

1

1. World Overview

Global tourism activities remained robust in 2016 despite challenges. According to the UNWTO

World Tourism Barometer1, international tourist arrivals sustained growth of 3.9% for the seventh

consecutive year to reach a total of 1235 million in 2016. In absolute terms, about 46 million more

tourists travelled internationally in 2016 compared to 2015.

By UNWTO regions, Asia and the Pacific led growth in international tourist arrivals by 8.4% in

2016, fuelled by strong demand from both intra-and interregional source markets. Africa saw a

strong rebound growth of 8.1% after two weaker years while positive growth momentum continued

for the Americas at 4.0%. Europe registered growth of 2%, although lower than the 4.7% growth in

2015. In contrast, the Middle East region registered a negative growth of 4.1% from a positive

growth of 0.8% a year prior. See Figure W1 for details

Table W1: World Tourist Arrivals by % Growth, 2016

Source: UNWTO World Tourism Barometer

For the Pacific ACP and the South Pacific Organization (SPTO) member countries, visitor arrivals

grew by 3.7% in 2016 following a stronger 4.8% growth in 2015. By source markets, visitor

arrivals from Australia and New Zealand continued to dominate the region with both representing

52% of the total market shares in 2016.

Global tourism outlook remain optimistic in 2017. The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer

projected international tourist arrivals worldwide to grow at a rate of 3-4% in 2017. The Asian and

the Pacific and the African regions both are projected to grow at 5-6%. Meanwhile, tourist arrivals

to the Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries is forecasted to grow by 4.5% in 2017. Growth in

arrivals is expected to be supported by the positive spillovers of the brighter global outlook and

increasing tourist traffics from the region’s traditional and emerging source markets during the

year. However, downside risks to the forecast remains to the reversal of the positive global tourism

outlook, increasing safety and security concerns, and frequent occurrences of natural disasters in the

region. 1 UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, Volume 15 January 2017

5.6

-2.5

6

4.7

0.8

4.6

8.4 8.1

4.0

2.0

-4.1

3.9

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

Asia & Pacific Africa Americas Europe Middle East Overall WorldGrowth

% G

row

th

2015 2016

2

2. Tourist Arrivals in the Pacific ACP & SPTO Member Countries2

Tourist arrivals (by air) in the Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries² reached 2,030,529 in

2016 generating an estimated inflow of USD3 billion. The arrivals marked an increase of 3.7%,

following a stronger 4.8% growth in the previous year. The lower growth in 2016 mirrored the

fall in Australian tourists, the leading market and Chinese tourists, the significant driver of

growth in the region in 2015. Nevertheless, the positive outcome in 2016 against the previous

year mainly reflected the increasing tourist arrivals in all destinations except American Samoa,

Federated State of Micronesia (FSM, Palau and Papua New Guinea (PNG). Marshall Islands

although has a much smaller base recorded the fastest growth at 55.8% while FSM registered

the highest slump by an estimated 20.2%. By sea arrivals, dominated by cruise, the region

received a total of 1,059,1523 in 2016. This brings the total visitor arrivals (both air and sea) to

the region at 3,089,681 during the year. See details in Table R1 and Annex Table 4.

Table R1: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, 2016

Destination 2015 Tourist

Arrivals(R)

2016 Tourist

Arrivals

Absolute

Change

2016

% Change

2016

% Share

2016

American Samoa 20,335 20,050 -285 -1.4 1.0

Cook Islands 125,132 146,473 21,341 17.1 7.2

FSM 30,240 24,125 -6,115 -20.2 1.1

Fiji 754,835 792,320 37,485 5.0 40.0

French Polynesia 183,831 192,495 8,664 4.7 9.5

Kiribati 4,353 5,018 665 15.3 0.2

Marshall Islands 6,311 9831 3520 55.8 0.4

Nauru N/A 3,038 3,038 0 0.1

New Caledonia 114,072 115,676 1,604 1.4 5.7

Niue 7,707 7,818 111 1.4 0.3

Palau 161,931 138,416 -23,515 -14.5 6.8

PNG 184,961 178,509 -6,452 -3.5 8.8

Samoa 136,104 145,176 9,072 6.7 7.2

Solomon Islands 21,623 23,192 1,569 7.3 1.1

Timor Leste 61,037 71,680 10,643 17.4 3.0

Tonga 53,731 59,130 5,399 10.0 2.9

Tuvalu 2,344 2,465 121 5.2 0.1

Vanuatu 89,952 95,117 5165 5.7 4.7

Total 1,958,499 2,030,529 72,030 3.7 100

Note: 2015 data unavailable for Nauru. Figures in red are SPTO estimates,

Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO

R=revised

2American Samoa, Peoples’ Republic of China, Cook Islands, Fiji, FSM, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue,

Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tuvalu and Vanuatu ²Data unavailable for FSM, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Niue 3 Only for ten countries with available sea arrivals data.

3

On market shares, Fiji maintained its supremacy as the lead tourism destination in the region

with 40% share. The second highest French Polynesia accounted for 9.5% share, followed by

PNG at 8.8%, Cook Islands and Samoa each at 7.2% and Palau at 6.8%. The remaining 20.3%

was shared among all the other destinations with New Caledonia and Vanuatu accounted for

5.7% and 4.7%, respectively. The summary is presented in Table R1 and Figure R1.

Figure R1: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, 2016


Mirroring the favourable global tourism conditions, in particular the buoyed international arrivals in

the Asia and the Pacific region, tourist arrivals in the Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries by

source market rose further by 4.2% (or 77,933) to 1,944,983 in 2016. Drivers of growth, arises from

increasing arrivals from the traditional source market New Zealand with the fastest growth by

13.6% (or 48,032) during the year. Growth in arrivals from Europe by 13%, Other Asia at 13.9%,

Other countries up 4.8% and USA rising by 3.4% also attributed to the positive outcome. This

outweighed the fall in arrivals from United Kingdom, China, Pacific Islands and Australia source

markets.

In terms of market shares, Australia despite the slight fall registered the highest share at 31.2% and

New Zealand at 20.6%. Both traditional source markets continued to dominate the region and

accounted for 51.8% of the total shares, slightly above the 51.5% share in 2015. USA, the third

largest source market represented 10% followed by Europe and China with shares of 9.8% and

7.3% respectively. All other source markets represented the remaining 21% share of which Pacific

Islands accounted for 6.5% and Other Asia 5.9%. See Table R2 and Figure R2 (a) for details

American

Samoa

CookIslands

FSM FijiFrenchPolyne

siaKiribati

Marshall

IslandsNauru

NewCaledo

niaNiue Palau PNG Samoa

Solomon

Islands

TimorLeste

Tonga TuvaluVanuat

u

Arrivals 2015 20335 125132 30240 754835 183831 4353 6311 0 114072 7707 161931 184961 136104 21623 61037 53731 2344 89952

Arrivals 2016 20050 146473 24125 792320 192495 5018 5810 3038 115676 7818 138416 178509 145176 23192 71680 59130 2465 95117

% change 2016 -1.4 17.1 -20.2 5.0 4.7 15.3 -7.9 0.0 1.4 1.4 -14.5 -3.5 6.7 7.3 17.4 10.0 5.2 5.7

% share 2016 1.0 7.2 1.1 40.0 9.5 0.2 0.2 0.1 5.7 0.3 6.8 8.8 7.2 1.1 3.0 2.9 0.1 4.7

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

0

100000

200000

300000

400000

500000

600000

700000

800000

900000

% To

uri

st A

rriv

als

4

Table R2: Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Source Market, 2016

Source Markets 2015 2016 Absolute Change 2016

% Change 2016

% Share 2016

Australia 608,933 607,253 -1,680 -0.28 31.2

NZ 352,389 400,421 48,032 13.6 20.6

USA 187,543 193,923 6,380 3.4 10.0

UK 36,315 34,562 -1,753 -4.8 1.8

Europe 169,253 191,263 22,010 13.0 9.8

China 150,458 142,745 -7,713 -5.1 7.3

Japan 74,870 75,701 831 1.1 3.9

Other Asia 100,968 114,959 13,991 13.9 5.9

Pacific Islands 130,976 126,129 -4,847 -3.7 6.5

Other Countries 55,345 58,027 2,682 4.8 3.0

Total 1,867,050 1,944,983 77,933 4.2 100.0


Figure R2(a): Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Source Market, 2016


Disaggregating arrivals by purpose of visit, leisure tourists dominated the region in 2016 at 66.2%.

Countries with the highest shares in leisure tourists include Cook Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati,

New Caledonia, Samoa and Solomon Islands. Meanwhile, PNG and Tuvalu received more business

tourists while American Samoa and Tonga were dominated by tourists on visiting friends and

relatives. See Figure R2(b) and Annex Table 3 for details.

Australia NZ USA UK Europe China Japan Other AsiaPacificIslands

OtherCountries

2015 608,933 352,389 187,543 36,315 169,253 150,458 74,870 100,968 130,976 55,345

2016 607,253 400,421 193,923 34,562 191,263 142,745 75,701 114,959 126,129 58,027

% Change -0.28 13.6 3.4 -4.8 13.0 -5.1 1.1 13.9 -3.7 4.8

% Share 31.2 20.6 10.0 1.8 9.8 7.3 3.9 5.9 6.5 3.0

-10

-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

%

Tou

rist

Arr

ival

s

5

Figure R2(b): Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: NTOs, NSOs & SPTO

Note: Graph based on only countries with available data by purpose of visit

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

AmericanSamoa

CookIslands

Fiji Kiribati NewCaledonia

PNG Samoa SolomonIslands

Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

% s

har

e

Leisure Business VFR Others

6

3. Market Performance

Australian Market

In 2016, Australian tourists visiting the region declined by 0.28% (or 1,680) to 607,253 as opposed

to the 0.01% growth registered in the previous year. The drop was fuelled by reduction in tourist

arrivals to Australian two top Pacific destinations, Papua New Guinea and Fiji during the year.

Australian arrivals to PNG slumped by 3.6% or fewer 3,276 arrivals on an account of persistent fall

since the global financial crisis of 2009. Meanwhile, Australian arrivals to Fiji dropped by 1.9% or

fewer 6,906 tourists dragged down by the drastic 27.8% deceleration or fewer 27,519 Australia

arrivals in the first quarter of 2016 resulted from the devastated cyclone Winston. A decline in

Australia tourists to Palau by 9.2%, Samoa 3.8%, New Caledonia 1.1% and Tuvalu 0.6% also

attributed to the downturn. This outweighed the increase in Australian tourists to American Samoa

by 12.9%, Cook Islands 10.4%, French Polynesia 6.4%, Solomon Islands 0.3%, Tonga 10.3%,

Vanuatu 7.1% and Kiribati with the highest growth by 46.6%. See Table R3 for further details.

Table R3: Australian Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016

Destination Tourist Arrivals Absolute Change

2016 % change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 711 803 92 12.9 0.1

Cook Islands 21,558 23,796 2,238 10.4 3.9

Fiji 367,273 360,367 -6,906 -1.9 59.3

French Polynesia 9,167 9,757 590 6.4 1.6

Kiribati 704 1,032 328 46.6 0.2

Nauru 2,154 2,154 0.4

New Caledonia 19,399 19,188 -211 -1.1 3.2

Palau 1,055 958 -97 -9.2 0.2

PNG 91,368 88,092 -3,276 -3.6 14.5

Samoa 30,040 28,912 -1,128 -3.8 4.8

Solomon Islands 9,509 9,539 30 0.3 1.6

Tonga 11,739 12,953 1,214 10.3 2.1

Tuvalu 312 310 -2 -0.6 0.1

Vanuatu 46,098 49,392 3,294 7.1 8.1

Total 608,933 607,253 -1,680 -0.28 100.0

Note: 2015 data unavailable for Nauru. Palau figures also includes NZ Countries not listed have unavailable data Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO

On market shares, Fiji despite the fall continued to dominate and fared the highest number of

Australian arrivals at 59.3% share to 360,367 in 2016, above the 57.3% share in 2015. The second

highest recipient from this source market was PNG with a share of 14.5% to 88,092, followed by

Vanuatu at 8.1% to 49,392 and Samoa at 4.8% to 28,912. The other destinations accounted for the

remaining 13.3% share. Details are shown in Table R3 and Figure R3.

7

Figure R3: Destination Share (%) of the Australian Market, 2016

New Zealand Market

The New Zealand Market remains a bright spot, with the region receiving 400,421 arrivals in 2016.

This marked a significant 13.6% (or 48,032) surge, expanding the 7.8% rise in 2015. The solid

growth reflected the high outbound demand by New Zealand residents, buoyed by rising household

incomes from recent robust economic performance. On drivers of growth, the positive outcome was

driven mainly by increasing arrivals to Fiji, Cook Islands and Samoa, the three main destinations

for this market. Growth was also supported by rising NZ arrivals to American Samoa, French

Polynesia, New Caledonia, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Kiribati. The latter

showed the highest growth in New Zealand tourists by 73.3%, albeit from a much lower base.

Meanwhile, New Zealand tourist arrivals to Vanuatu slumped further by 18.6% in 2016 following

the 17.6% fall in the preceding year. Details are illustrated in Table R4.

Table R4: New Zealand Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016


2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 2,918 3,022 104 3.6 0.8

Cook Islands 83,977 99,490 15,513 18.5 24.8

Fiji 138,537 163,836 25,299 18.3 40.9


Kiribati 345 598 253 73.3 0.1

Nauru 0 317 317 0 0.1

New Caledonia 8,128 8,268 140 1.7 2.1

PNG 10,149 10,265 116 1.1 2.6

Samoa 60,498 67,022 6,524 10.8 16.7

Solomon Islands 1,451 1,544 93 6.4 0.4

Tonga 25,784 27,545 1,761 6.8 6.9

Tuvalu 308 362 54 17.5 0.1

Vanuatu 13,422 10,931 -2,491 -18.6 2.7

Total 352,389 400,421 48,032 13.6 100.0 Note: 2015 data unavailable for Nauru Countries not listed have unavailable data Palau figures for NZ is bundled with Australia


American Samoa 0.1%

Cook Islands 3.9%

Fiji 59.3%

French Polynesia

1.6%

Kiribati 0.2%

Nauru 0.4%

New Caledonia 3.2%

Palau 0.2%

PNG 14.5%

Samoa 4.8%

Solomon Islands 1.6%

Tonga 2.1%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 8.1%

8

In terms of shares, Fiji and Cook Islands received the highest portions from this market at 40.9% to

163,836 and 24.8% to 99,490 shares respectively. The third highest, Samoa received shares of

16.7% while Tonga had a share of 6.9%. The remaining 10% was shared among all the other

countries. See Figure R4 for more details.

Figure R4: Destination Share (%) of the New Zealand Market, 2016

USA Market

Tourist arrivals from the USA market grew further by 3.4% to 193,923 in 2016 following a 2.8%

growth in 2015. The acceleration partly reflected the strong outbound demand by USA residents

fuelled by a strong US dollar and economy during the year. On growth comparison, the positive

outturn in 2016 was driven mainly by increase in arrivals from this market to Tonga by 17.9%,

Cook Islands 15.4%, Tuvalu 9.1%, French Polynesia 6.3%, Solomon Islands 5.4%, Samoa 3.4%,

and Fiji rising by 2.6%. In contrast, arrivals to American Samoa, New Caledonia, Palau, Papua

New Guinea, Vanuatu and Kiribati, decelerated during the year. The latter showed the highest fall

in arrivals from this market by 13.4%.

In terms of share, majority of the USA tourists visited Fiji and French Polynesia recording shares of

35.9% to 69,628 and 35% to 67,908, respectively. PNG rallied in third with 6.3% share with Samoa

and Palau having 5.5% and 4.3% each. All the other countries accounted for the remaining 17.3%.

Details are clearly shown in Table R5 and Figure R5.

American Samoa 0.8%

Cook Islands 24.8%

Fiji 40.9% French Polynesia

1.8%

Kiribati 0.1%

Nauru 0.1%

New Caledonia 2.1%

PNG 2.6%

Samoa 16.7%


Tonga 6.9%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 2.7%

9

Table R5: USA Tourists by Destination and % Share, 2016


2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016

2015 2016

American Samoa 4,487 4,350 -137 -3.1 2.2

Cook Islands 5,367 6,192 825 15.4 3.2

Fiji 67,831 69,628 1,797 2.6 35.9


Kiribati 1,029 887 -142 -13.8 0.5

New Caledonia 1,151 1,129 -22 -1.9 0.6

Palau 8,752 8,418 -334 -3.8 4.3

PNG 13,388 12,181 -1,207 -9.0 6.3

Samoa 10,266 10,620 354 3.4 5.5

Solomon Islands 1,413 1,490 77 5.4 0.8

Tonga 6,878 8,107 1,229 17.9 4.2

Tuvalu 110 120 10 9.1 0.1

Vanuatu 2,962 2,893 -69 -2.3 1.5

Total 187,543 193,923 6,380 3.4 100.0

Note: Countries not listed have unavailable data Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO

Figure R5: Destination Share (%) of the USA Market, 2016

United Kingdom Market

United Kingdom tourists visited the region fell by 4.8% (or 1753) in 2016 to 34,562 arrivals in

contrast to the 4.9% growth recorded in 2015. The downturn may be largely attributed to impacts of

Brexit during the year. On drivers, the fall in 2016 arises from the significant declines in UK

arrivals to Tuvalu by 34.8%, PNG 24.7%, French Polynesia 15.5% and Solomon Islands falling by

10.1%. This outweighed the increase in UK arrivals to American Samoa, Cook Islands, Kiribati,

Palau, Samoa and Tonga. United Kingdom tourists to Fiji remained almost flat at 16,712 arrivals

during the year. See Table R6 and Figure R6 for details.

American Samoa 2.2%

Cook Islands 3.2%

FIJI 35.9%

French Polynesia 35.0%

Kiribati 0.5%

New Caledonia 0.6%

Palau 4.3%

PNG 6.3%

Samoa 5.5%


Tonga 4.2%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 1.5%

10

Table R6: UK Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016

Destination Tourist Arrivals Absolute

Change

2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 110 127 17 15.5 0.4

Cook Islands 2,568 2,680 112 4.4 7.8

Fiji 16,716 16,712 -4 0.0 48.4

French Polynesia 4,711 3,980 -731 -15.5 11.5

Kiribati 119 193 74 62.2 0.6

New Caledonia 1,073 1,558 485 45.2 4.5

Palau 628 678 50 8.0 2.0

PNG 7,399 5,569 -1,830 -24.7 16.1

Samoa 1,755 1,832 77 4.4 5.3

Solomon Islands 386 347 -39 -10.1 1.0

Tonga 784 843 59 7.5 2.4

Tuvalu 66 43 -23 -34.8 0.1

Total 36,315 34,562 -1753 -4.8 100.0


On market shares, nearly half of the total UK tourists at 48.4% visited Fiji whilst 16.1% went to

PNG and a further 11.5% to French Polynesia. The remaining 24% was shared amongst all other

destinations in the region with Cook Islands and Samoa accounted for 7.8% and 5.3% respectively.

Details are illustrated in Table R6 and Figure R6.

Figure R6: Destination Share (%) of the UK Market, 2016

American Samoa 0.4%

Cook Islands 7.8%

Fiji 48.4% French

Polynesia 11.5%

Kiribati 0.6%

New Caledonia 4.5%

Palau 2.0%

PNG 16.1%

Samoa 5.3%


Tonga 2.4%

Tuvalu 0.1%

11

Europe Market

Tourist arrivals from Europe to the region grew considerably by 13% (or 22,010) to 191,263 in

2016 following 2.8% growth in the preceding year. The outcome reflected the significant growth

outbound demand by European residents boosted by high tourism spending, in particular from

Germany and France, two of the main European markets in the region. On drivers of growth, the

solid performance in 2016 was aided mainly by surge in European arrivals to Kiribati, Samoa,

Vanuatu, Cook Islands, PNG, New Caledonia, Palau, Solomon Islands, American Samoa and

Tuvalu during the year. Moderate growth in arrivals from this market to French Polynesia and Fiji

also attributed to the positive outturn, Meanwhile, European arrivals to Tonga declined by 3.3%

during the year. Details are illustrated in Table R7.

Table R7: European Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016


2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 320 355 35 10.9 0.2

Cook Islands 6,509 8,087 1,578 24.2 4.2

Fiji 31,195 31,916 721 2.3 16.7


Kiribati 28 154 126 450.0 0.1

Nauru 0 29 29 0 0.0

New Caledonia 49,798 57,153 7,355 14.8 29.9

Palau 3,752 4,486 734 19.6 2.3

PNG 8,252 10,065 1813 22.0 5.3

Samoa 2,041 3561 1520 74.5 1.9

Solomon Islands 845 961 116 13.7 0.5

Tonga 2,702 2,614 -88 -3.3 1.4

Tuvalu 148 191 43 29.1 0.1

Vanuatu 5,839 10,067 4,228 72.4 5.3

Total 169,253 191,263 22,010 13.0 100.0


On market shares, French Polynesia alone received 32.2% of the European tourists to 61,624,

slightly below the 33.4% share recorded in the previous year. The second highest, New Caledonia

registered share of 29.9% to 57,153, followed by Fiji at 16.7% to 31,916 and Vanuatu and PNG

each with 5.3% share. The remaining 10.7% was shared amongst all the other countries with Cook

Islands accounted for 4.2%. See Table R7 and Figure R7 for further details.

12

Figure R7: Destination Share of the European Market, 2016

Japanese Market

Japanese tourists visited the region rebounded by 1.1% (or 831) to 75,701 arrivals in 2016 reversing

the 13.2% fall in 2015. The upturn was partly related to some positive spillovers from the

significant increase in Japanese tourists in 2016 to Australia and New Zealand, the primary

gateways to the Pacific region. On growth comparisons, the positive outcome in 2016 was mainly

fuelled by increasing arrivals to Cook Islands by 75.5%, Vanuatu 42.7%, Samoa 20%, Kiribati

16%, French Polynesia 6.4%, New Caledonia 6.1% and Fiji rising by 3%. This more than offset the

decline in Japanese arrivals to American Samoa, Palau, PNG, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu.

See details in Table R8.

Table R8: Japanese Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016


2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 77 71 -6 -7.8 0.1

Cook Islands 286 502 216 75.5 0.7

Fiji 6,092 6,274 182 3.0 8.3


Kiribati 150 174 24 16.0 0.2

New Caledonia 19,932 21,141 1,209 6.1 27.9

Palau 31,016 29,238 -1,778 -5.7 38.6

PNG 3,038 3,001 -37 -1.2 4.0

Samoa 601 721 120 20.0 1.0

Solomon Islands 581 552 -29 -5.0 0.7

Tonga 848 802 -46 -5.4 1.1

Tuvalu 169 148 -21 -12.4 0.2

Vanuatu 633 903 270 42.7 1.2

Total 74,870 75,701 831 1.1 100.0


American Samoa 0.2%

Cook Islands 4.2%

Fiji 16.7%


Kiribati 0.1%

Nauru 0.0%

New Caledonia 29.9%

Palau 2.4%

PNG 5.3%

Samoa 1.9%


Tonga 1.4%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 5.3%

13

Meanwhile, majority of the Japanese tourists at 38.6% share to 29,238 visited Palau due to its

proximity to the source market. However, this was lower from 39.4% share in 2015. The second

and third main destinations for this source market, New Caledonia and French Polynesia recorded

shares of 27.9% and 16.1%, respectively. The remaining 17.4% was shared amongst the other

countries in the region with Fiji accounting for 8.3%. See details in Table R8 and Figure R8.

Figure R8; Destination share of the Japanese Market, 2016

Chinese Market

Despite being as the recent fastest growing market in the region, Chinese arrivals in 2016 declined

by 5.1% to 142,745 as opposed to the peak growth of 69.2% in 2015. The dip was dragged down

solely by double digit declines in Chinese arrivals to Palau, the leading market by 25.3% or 22,068

fewer. This was largely attributed to weak tourism demand arising from reports of drought which

affected water supply in hotels and popular attractions combined with reduced flights from Hong

Kong and China during the year. Meanwhile rising Chinese arrivals to American Samoa, Cook

Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, PNG, Tonga, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and

Vanuatu were insufficient to offset the fall in arrivals to Palau. See Table R9 for details.

On market shares, of the total Chinese tourists, the majority at 45.5% to 69,990 visited Palau and

34.4% to 49,083 went to Fiji. The third highest PNG represented 9.1% to 12,937 of the Chinese

tourist arrivals. The remaining 11% share was distributed among all the other regional countries, of

which French Polynesia represented 4.2%. Details are shown in Table R9 and Figure R9.

American Samoa 0.1%

Cook Islands 0.7%

Fiji 8.3%


Kiribati 0.2%

New Caledonia 27.9%

Palau 38.6%

PNG 4.0%

Samoa 0.4%


Tonga 1.1%

Tuvalu 0.2%

Vanuatu 1.2%

14

Table R9: Chinese Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016


2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 363 370 7 1.9 0.3

Cook Islands 551 786 235 42.6 0.6

Fiji 40,174 49,083 8,909 22.2 34.4


Kiribati 0 89 89 0.1

New Caledonia 263 336 73 27.8 0.2

Palau 87,058 64,990 -22,068 -25.3 45.5

PNG 10,255 12,937 2,682 26.2 9.1

Samoa 2,333 3211 878 37.6 2.2

Solomon Islands 742 827 85 11.5 0.6

Tonga 974 1,318 344 35.3 0.9

Tuvalu 4 75 71 1,775.0 0.1

Vanuatu 2,186 2,736 550 25.2 1.9

Total 150,458 142,745 -7,713 -5.1 100.0


Figure R9: Destination Share of the China Market, 2016

American Samoa 0.3%

Cook Islands 0.6%

Fiji 34.4%


Kiribati 0.1%

New Caledonia 0.2%

Palau 45.5%

PNG 9.1%

Samoa 2.2%


Tonga 0.9%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 1.9%

15

Other Asian Market

Tourist arrivals from other Asian Market4 to the region rebounded strongly by 13.9% (or 13,991) to

114,959 in 2016 reversing the 20.5% decline in 2015. The upturn reflected the increase in direct

flights to new destinations such as Singapore during the year which is the South East Asia booming

financial hub and gate way to other world regions such as Europe. On drivers of growth, the rise

was fuelled by surge in arrivals from this market to Samoa increasing by more than threefold, Cook

Islands by 36.6% and Fiji up by 35.8%. Rising tourists from other Asia to American Samoa, French

Polynesia, Kiribati, PNG, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu also attributed to the positive

outturn. Meanwhile, arrivals from this market to New Caledonia and Palau dropped by 18.7% and

0.9% respectively during the year. See details in Table R10.

On market shares, PNG received the highest from the other Asian market at 36.7% share to 42,182

arrivals. The second highest Fiji received a share of 24.9% to 28,629 arrivals. Palau the third

highest at 23.9% share and was driven mainly by tourists from Taiwan and South Korea. The

remaining 4.5% was shared among the other destination in the region. See details in Table R10 and

Figure R10.

Table R10: Other Asia Market Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016


2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 733 916 183 25.0 0.8

Cook Islands 434 593 159 36.6 0.5

Fiji 21,081 28,629 7,548 35.8 24.9


Kiribati 0 304 304 0 0.3

Nauru 0 162 162 0 0.1

New Caledonia 2,764 2,247 -517 -18.7 2.0

Palau 27,685 27,434 -251 -0.9 23.9

PNG 39,822 42,182 2,360 5.9 36.7

Samoa 1,424 4,314 2,890 202.9 3.8

Solomon Islands 2,506 3,158 652 26.0 2.7

Tonga 760 918 158 20.8 0.8

Tuvalu 279 314 35 12.5 0.3

Total 100,968 114,959 13,991 13.9 100.0


4 Other Asia Market include India, South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore

16

Figure R10: Destination share of the Other Asian Market, 2016

Pacific Islands Market

Tourist arrivals within the Pacific region slumped by 3.7% (or 4847) to 126,129 in 2016 following

the 1.2% drop in 2015. The deceleration was mainly driven by decrease in Pacific Island arrivals to

majority of the destinations except for Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Solomon Islands and

Tonga. The fastest growth in this period was recorded by Cook Islands (179.4%) while New

Caledonia registered the highest fall by 65%. See details in Table R11.

Table R11: Pacific Islands Tourists by Destination and Share, 2016


2016

% change

2016

% Share

2016 2015 2016

American Samoa 10,329 9,792 -537 -5.2 7.8

Cook Islands 545 1,523 978 179.4 1.2

Fiji 48,570 49,741 1,171 2.4 39.4

French Polynesia 5,151 4,941 -210 -4.1 3.9

Kiribati 905 1,183 278 30.7 0.9

Nauru 0 322 322 0.3

New Caledonia 8,858 3,100 -5,758 -65.0 2.5

Palau 526 605 79 15.0 0.5

PNG 9,581 7,420 -2,161 -22.6 5.9

Samoa 22,240 23,334 1,094 4.9 18.5

Solomon Islands 3,921 4,472 551 14.1 3.5

Tonga 2,978 3,560 582 19.5 2.8

Tuvalu 852 750 -102 -12.0 0.6

Vanuatu 16,520 15,386 -1,134 -6.9 12.2

Total 130,976 126,129 -4,847 -3.7 100.0


American Samoa 0.8%

Cook Islands 0.5%

Fiji 24.9%


Kiribati 0.3% Nauru

0.1%

New Caledonia 2.0%

Palau 23.9%

PNG 36.7%

Samoa 3.8%


Tonga 0.8%

Tuvalu 0.3%

17

With regards to market shares, Fiji alone received 39.4% to 49,741 of the total tourists, reflecting

Fiji‘s tourism hub within the Pacific region in particular for business conferences and holidaying.

Samoa the second highest obtained 15.2%, followed by Vanuatu at 12.7%, American Samoa at

8.1% and PNG at 6.1%. All other countries represented the remaining 16.9% share with French

Polynesia and Solomon Islands accounted for 4.1% and 3.7% respectively. See Table R11 and

Figure R11 for details.

Figure R11: Destination Share of the Pacific Islands Market, 2016

American Samoa 7.8% Cook Islands

1.2%

Fiji 39.4%


Kiribati 0.9%

Nauru 0.3%

New Caledonia 2.5%

Palau 0.5%

PNG 5.9%

Samoa 18.5%


Tonga 2.8%

Tuvalu 0.6% Vanuatu

12.2%

18

4. Destination Analysis

In this section, only regional member countries that provided complete data in time were reported.

American Samoa

In 2016, tourist arrivals to American Samoa weakened further by 1.4% (or 285) to 20,050 arrivals

following the 5.9% fall in 2015. The deceleration stemmed from decline in arrivals from the United

States of America, Canada, Japan, Other Pacific Island countries and Other countries. This

outweighed the increase in arrivals from Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Europe,

Philippines, China and Other Asia source markets with the latter showing the highest growth by

26.6% in 2016.

In terms of market shares, majority of these tourists were from other Pacific Islands and accounted

for 48.8% to 9792 of the total tourist arrivals in 2016. However, this was below the 50.8% share

witnessed in 2015. The second highest of 4,350 tourists came from the USA and this made up

21.7% of the market share. New Zealand tourists the third highest represented 15.1% of the share,

while all Other countries accounted for the remaining 14.4% share. Details are shown in Figure C1.

Figure C1: Tourist Arrivals in American Samoa by Source Market, 2016

Source: American Samoa Statistics Division, Dept. of Commerce

Analysis by purpose of visit revealed that majority of tourists to American Samoa in 2016 was

visiting friends and relatives (VFR). This segment registered a share of 54.9% to 11,014 while

25.2% of tourists, the second highest were visiting for leisure purposes. Business tourists the third

highest segment accounted for 17.3% while 2.6% was made up of tourists visiting American Samoa

for other purposes. In terms of growth over the previous year, leisure, VFR and others showed

positive movement while tourists visiting for business dropped by 12.2%. Details are illustrated in

Figure C2.

Australia

NewZealan

dUSA Canada UK Europe

Philippines

China JapanOtherAsia

OtherPacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2015 711 2918 4487 146 110 320 338 363 77 395 10329 141 20,335

2016 803 3,022 4,350 107 127 355 416 370 71 500 9792 137 20,050

% Change 12.9 3.6 -3.1 -26.7 15.5 10.9 23.1 1.9 -7.8 26.6 -5.2 -2.8 -1.4

% Share 4.0 15.1 21.7 0.5 0.6 1.8 2.1 1.8 0.4 2.5 48.8 0.7 100.0

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Figure C2: Tourist Arrivals in America Samoa, by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: American Samoa Statistics Division, Dept. of Commerce

Cook Islands

Tourist arrivals to Cook Islands increased considerably by 17.1% (or 21,346) to 146,473 arrivals in

2016, compared to the 3.0% growth in 2015. The acceleration partly reflected the change in the

travelling habits of the visitors combined with competitive airfares and additional airlines servicing

the Cook Islands route during the year. On growth comparisons, the continued positive outcome

was boosted mainly by increased arrivals from all Cook Islands main source markets except for

Other countries which declined by 57.9%. Tourist arrivals from other Pacific Islands showed the

highest growth by 179.4%, Japan by 75.5%, China 46.2%, Other Asia markets by 36.6% and

Europe by 24.2%. Leading markets, New Zealand and Australia grew by 18.5% and 10.4%,

respectively.

Figure C3: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Source Market, 2016

Source: Cook Islands Statistics Office

Leisure VFR Business Others Total

2015 4626 9743 3943 445 18757

2016 5051 11014 3460 525 20050

% Change 9.2 13.0 -12.2 18.0 6.89

% Share 25.2 54.9 17.3 2.6 100.00

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15000

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Australia

NewZealand

USA Canada UK Europe China JapanOtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2015 21558 83977 5367 1883 2568 6509 551 286 434 545 1454 125,132

2016 23,796 99,490 6,192 2,212 2,680 8,087 786 502 593 1523 612 146,473

% Change 10.4 18.5 15.4 17.5 4.4 24.2 42.6 75.5 36.6 179.4 -57.9 17.1

% Share 16.2 67.9 4.2 1.5 1.8 5.5 0.5 0.3 0.4 1.0 0.4 100.0

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20

On market shares, New Zealand continued to be the dominant source market for this destination

with share of 67.9%. Australia and Europe, the second and third highest source markets registered

16.2% and 5.5% respectively. The remaining share of 10.3% was shared amongst all the other

source markets. Details are illustrated in Figure C3.

By purpose of visit, all four segments showed strong growths in 2016 hovering around the 17%

mark. In terms of shares, the leisure segment continued to have the largest share of 86% to 125,901

arrivals while the remaining 14% was shared amongst the other segments, including VFR, business

and ‘other purposes. Details are illustrated in Figure C4.

Figure C4: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Cook Islands Statistics Office

Fiji

Fiji, despite the devastated impacts of cyclone Winston earlier in 2016 received 792,320 tourists to

its shores. This marked a further 5.0% (or 37,845) increase following a stronger 9.0% growth in

2015. The continued positive trend was underpinned by Fiji’s tourism resilience and solid arrival

growth from Other Asia rising by 35.8%, China 22.2%, and New Zealand increasing by 18.3%. The

sharp increase in arrivals from other Asia market reflected the increased direct flights to new

destination Singapore that connects other booming Asian markets such as India, Korea, Malaysia,

Thailand and Taiwan. Moderate growth from USA, Canada, France, Europe, Japan and Other

Pacific Island countries also attributed to the positive outturn. In contrast, arrivals from leading

market Australia fell slightly by 1.7% while other countries slumped by 23% during the year.

Disaggregating arrivals by market shares, Australia despite the fall continued its dominance in 2016

accounting for 45.5% share to 360,367 of the Fiji tourist arrivals. However, this was lower than the

48.7% share recorded in the preceding year. New Zealand being the traditional second largest

market, recorded 20.7% to 163,836 share followed by USA with 8.8% to 69,628 share. Other

Pacific Islands registered 6.3% while China one of Fiji’s fastest growing markets represented 6.2%


2015 107597 10189 4567 2779 125132

2016 125,901 11,968 5,354 3,250 146,473

% Change 17.0 17.5 17.2 17.0 17.1

% Share 86.0 8.2 3.7 2.2 100.0

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21

share, an improvement from 5.3% in 2015. The remaining 12.6% was shared among the other

source markets. Details are shown in Figure C5.

Figure C5: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji by Source Market, 2016

Source: Fiji Bureau of Statistics

On arrivals by purpose of visit, all segments for Fiji in 2016 registered growth except for other

segments which dropped mildly by 0.3%. Tourist visiting friends and relatives recorded the highest

increase by 45.9%, business at 26.9% and to a lesser extent leisure inching a little by 1.0%. In terms

of shares, leisure tourists continued to dominate arrivals into this destination with 75.8% to 600,887

shares in 2016. Tourists’ visiting friends and relatives and ‘other’ purposes accounted for 9.5% and

8.6% respectively while business tourists made up the remaining 6.0%. Details are shown in Figure

C6.

Figure C6: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji, by purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Fiji Bureau of Statistics

Australia

NewZealan

dUSA Canada France UK Europe China Japan

OtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2015 367273 138537 67831 11709 5122 16716 26073 40174 6092 21081 48570 5657 754835

2016 360367 163836 69628 11780 5245 16712 26671 49083 6274 28629 49741 4354 792320

% Change -1.9 18.3 2.6 0.6 2.4 0.0 2.3 22.2 3.0 35.8 2.4 -23.0 5.0

% Share 45.5 20.7 8.8 1.5 0.7 2.1 3.4 6.2 0.8 3.6 6.3 0.5 100.0

-40-20020406080100120

0100000200000300000400000500000600000700000800000

%

Tou

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2015 594749 46794 37490 75802 754835

2016 600887 68262 47565 75606 792320

% Change 1.0 45.9 26.9 -0.3 5.0

% Share 75.8 8.6 6.0 9.5 100.0

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22

French Polynesia

Tourist arrivals to French Polynesia expanded further by 4.7% (or 8,664) to 192,495 arrivals in

2016 from 1.8% in the previous year. The acceleration reflected French Polynesian’s popularity as

the world’s most romantic destination for third year in a row, triggered by the famous best bride

honeymoon spot. All major source markets recorded positive growth except Canada, United

Kingdom, New Zealand and Europe which fell during the year. Tourist arrivals from Other

countries showed the highest growth by 20.2%, while Australian, New Zealand, USA, France,

Europe, China, Japan and Other Asia showed moderate growth across the year.

On shares, leading market USA continued to dominate arrivals in French Polynesia with 35.3% to

67,908 shares. France the second largest source market for this destination accounted for 20.3%,

followed by Other European countries at 11.7%. Japan recorded share of 6.3% while Australia

gained 5.1% share. The remaining 21.3% was shared amongst all the other source markets with

Japan and Australia representing 6.3% and 5.1%, respectively. See details in Figure C7.

Figure C7: Tourist Arrivals in French Polynesia by Source Market, 2016.

Source: Institut de la Statistique de la Polynesie Francaise

Note : French Polynesia’s data on tourist arrivals by purpose of visit not available.

Kiribati

Tourist arrivals in Kiribati grew considerably by 15.3% to 5018 arrivals in 2016 compared to 4353

arrivals in the preceding year. The positive performance was mainly driven by strong arrival growth

from Europe (450%), New Zealand (73.3%), Australia (46.6%), United Kingdom (62.2%), Pacific

Islands (30.7%) and Japan (16%). This more than offset the fall in arrivals from USA and Other

Countries by 13.8% and 62.3%, respectively.

On market shares, the majority of the tourists at 23.6% to 1,183 share came from other Pacific

Islands overtaking Australia and USA which represented share of 20.6% and 17.7% each. New

Zealand recorded a share of 11.3% while Other countries rallying fourth with 8.1%. Other source

markets accounted for the remaining 18.2% share. Figure C8 clearly illustrates the details.

Australia

NewZealan

dUSA

Canada

UK France Europe

China JapanOtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountr

iesTotal

2015 9167 6872 63909 8402 4711 35765 22059 5555 11447 3480 5151 7313 183831

2016 9757 7221 67908 6326 3980 39086 22538 5987 12174 3788 4941 8789 192495

% Change 6.4 5.1 6.3 -24.7 -15.5 9.3 2.2 7.8 6.4 8.9 -4.1 20.2 4.7

% Share 5.1 3.8 35.3 3.3 2.1 20.3 11.7 3.1 6.3 2.0 2.6 4.6 100.0

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Figure C8: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Source Market, 2016.

Source: Kiribati National Tourism Office

Analysis by purpose of visit for Kiribati revealed that all segments in 2016 registered growth in

comparison to the preceding year except Other segment which declined by 8.1%. Tourists on

business visit showed the highest growth by 23.5% while leisure and VFR tourists rose by 10.6%

and 2.5% respectively. On shares, majority of tourists to Kiribati in 2016 were leisure tourists and

accounted for 61.9% shares. VFR with share of 21.1%, while business and other purpose of visit

represented shares of 15% and 2.2% respectively. Details are shown in Figure C9.

Figure C9: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Kiribati National Tourism Office

Australia

NewZealan

dUSA UK Europe China Japan

OtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2015 704 345 1029 119 28 0 150 0 905 1073 4353

2016 1032 598 887 193 154 89 174 304 1183 404 5018

% Change 46.6 73.3 -13.8 62.2 450.0 0.0 16.0 0.0 30.7 -62.3 15.3

% Share 20.6 11.9 17.7 3.8 3.1 1.8 3.5 6.1 23.6 8.1 100.0

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2015 4737 1740 1027 203 7707

2016 5239 1784 1268 187 8470

% Change 10.6 2.5 23.5 -8.1 9.9

% Share 61.9 21.1 15.0 2.2 100.0

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New Caledonia

Tourist arrivals in New Caledonia rose slightly by 1.4% to 115,676 in 2016 following a stronger

6.4% growth in 2015. The consecutive growths were partly supported through reports of increased

international promotion of this destination, primarily aimed at the most promising targets,

Australia/New Zealand, Japan and France. Growth in 2016 was supported by rising arrivals from

United Kingdom at 45.6%, China 27.8%, France 15.8%, other Europe countries 6.5%, Japan 6.1%

and New Zealand up by 1.7%. This outweighed the decline in tourist arrivals to New Caledonia

from Australian, USA, Canada, Other Asia, Other Countries and Other Pacific Islands with the

latter showing the highest fall by 65%.

The leading market, France continued its dominance in New Caledonia accounting for 44.5% share

to 51,499 in 2016, and above the 38.9% share witnessed in the preceding year. Japan the second

major source market accounted for share of 18.3%, followed by Australia at 16.6% and New

Zealand with 7.1%. The remaining 13.5% was shared amongst the other source markets. Details are

illustrated in Figure C10.

Figure C10: Tourist Arrivals in New Caledonia by Source Market, 2016

Source: Institut de la statistique et des etudes economiques Nouvelle-Caledonie

By purpose, the leisure segment continued to have the largest portion in 2016 with 57.4% to 69,097

share in New Caledonia tourist arrivals. This was higher compared to the 52.7% share registered in

2015. Tourists visiting friends and relatives the second highest represented 21.6% while business

and other purposes segments accounted for 11.2% and 9.8%, respectively. On growth comparisons,

only the leisure segment increased over the previous year by 15.1%. This more than offsets the fall

in tourists on VFR, business and other purposes. Details shown in Figure C11.

Australia

NewZealand

USA Canada France UK Europe China JapanOtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2015 19399 8128 1151 1215 44488 1073 5310 263 19932 2764 8858 1491 114072

2016 19188 8268 1129 811 51499 1558 5654 336 21141 2247 3100 745 115676

% Change -1.1 1.7 -1.9 -33.3 15.8 45.2 6.5 27.8 6.1 -18.7 -65.0 -50.0 1.4

% Share 16.6 7.1 1.0 0.7 44.5 1.3 4.9 0.3 18.3 1.9 2.7 0.6 100.0

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Figure C11: Tourist Arrivals in New Caledonia by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Institut de la statistique et des etudes economiques Nouvelle-Caledonie

Palau

Tourist arrivals to Palau slumped by 14.5% (or 23,515) to 138,416 in 2016, reversing the 15%

growth witnessed in the preceding year. The downturn stemmed largely from the decline in arrivals

by Palau’s leading market China. Arrivals from China fell drastically by 25.3% (or 22,068) to

64,990 in 2016 from the peak record of 87,058 arrivals in 2015. The fall was partly attributed to

reports of water rationing in hotels, depletion of the stingless jellyfish in Palau’s famous Jelly fish

lake and the reduction in direct flight services from Hong Kong and China to Palau. Falling tourist

arrivals from Australia, USA, Japan, Taiwan and Other Asia source markets also attributed to the

negative outturn. Meanwhile, arrivals from United Kingdom, Europe, South Korea, Other Pacific

Islands and Other countries showed positive growth during the year. See Figure C12 for details

Figure C12: Tourist Arrivals in Palau by Source Market, 2016

Source: Palau Visitors Authority

Note: Palau’s data on purpose of visit not available.


2015 60046 26281 14936 12688 113951

2016 69097 25924 13513 11757 120291

% Change 15.1 -1.4 -9.5 -7.3 5.6

% Share 57.4 21.6 11.2 9.8 100.0

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USA UK Europe China Japan TaiwanSouthKorea

OtherAsia

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esTotal

2015 1055 8752 628 3752 87058 31016 14174 12327 1184 526 1459 161931

2016 958 8,418 678 4,486 64,990 29,238 13,934 12,440 1,060 605 1,609 138,416

% Change -9.2 -3.8 8.0 19.6 -25.3 -5.7 -1.7 0.9 -10.5 15.0 10.3 -14.5

% Share 0.7 6.1 0.5 3.2 47.0 21.1 10.1 9.0 0.8 0.4 1.2 100.0

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In terms of shares, Asian markets remained dominant in 2016 due to their proximity to Palau.

Although there was a decline in arrivals from China, it continued to be the major driver accounting

for 47.0% share of the Palau tourist arrivals. Japan rallied in second with a share of 21.1% while

Taiwan and South Korea recorded shares of 10.1% and 9.0%, respectively. All other countries

accounted for the remaining 12.9%. Details are clearly shown in Figure C12.

Papua New Guinea

Visitor arrivals in Papua New Guinea fell slightly by 0.5% (or 1053) to 197,682 in 2016 reversing

the 3.7% growth in the year prior. The decline was underpinned by persistent fall in leading market

Australia since the global financial crisis to 3.6% (or 3276) in 2016. The drop in arrivals from UK

by 24.7%, other Pacific Islands 22.7%, Canada 9.7%, USA 4.6%, and Japan falling by 1.2% also

attributed to the negative outturn. This more than offset the increasing arrivals from New Zealand,

China, Europe, Other Asia and Other countries.

Disaggregating by markets, Australia continued to be the major source market and accounted for

44.6% of the total tourists received by Papua New Guinea in 2016. Other Asia, the second highest

source market accounted for 21.3% followed by China with 6.5%, USA 6.2% whilst New Zealand

and Europe recorded shares of 5.2% and 5.1%, respectively. The remaining 11.1% was shared

amongst the other source markets during the year. See Figure C13 for details.

Figure C13: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Source Market, 2016.

Source: Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority

Note: Data analysis by source markets for PNG includes cruise arrivals

By purpose of visit, all segments registered positive growth except business tourists which fell by

3.3% in 2016. On shares, business tourists despite the fall dominated PNG’s arrivals with 64.5% to

127,403 share. Leisure tourists represented 28.7% to 56,744 shares while tourists on visiting friends

and relatives accounted for 6.1%. The remaining 0.7% share was for tourists visiting for all other

purposes. See Figure C14 for details.

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA Canada UK Europe China Japan

OtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2015 91368 10149 12762 2403 7399 8252 10255 3038 39822 9581 3656 198685

2016 88092 10265 12181 2170 5569 10065 12937 3001 42,182 7,420 3,750 197632

% Change -3.6 1.1 -4.6 -9.7 -24.7 22.0 26.2 -1.2 5.9 -22.6 2.6 -0.5

% Share 44.6 5.2 6.2 1.1 2.8 5.1 6.5 1.5 21.3 3.8 1.9 100.0

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Figure C14: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority

Note: Data analysis by purpose of visit for PNG includes cruise arrivals

Samoa

Tourists visited Samoa in 2016 rose further by 6.7% (or 9072) to 145,176 arrivals following a 4.2%

growth in the previous year. The positive trend was partly fuelled by reports of excellent market

promotions, aimed at key source markets for this destination during the year. Meanwhile, growth in

2016 was mainly driven by sharp increase in arrivals from Other Asia rising by more than threefold

to 4,314 in 2016. Solid arrival growth from Europe by 74.5%, China 37.6%, Japan 20% and New

Zealand by 10.8% with moderate growth from USA, UK and Pacific Islands also attributed to the

positive outturn. This more than offset the decrease in arrivals from Australia, Canada and other

countries during the year.

Figure C15: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Source Market, 2016

Source: Samoa Tourism Authority


2015 54023 11742 131773 1147 198685

2016 56,744 12,027 127,403 1,458 197632

% Change 5.0 2.4 -3.3 27.1 -0.5

% Share 28.7 6.1 64.5 0.7 100.0

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NewZealand


PacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2015 30040 60498 10266 462 1755 2041 2333 601 1424 22240 4444 136104

2016 28,912 67,022 10,620 316 1,832 3,561 3,211 721 4,314 23,334 1,333 145176

% Change -3.8 10.8 3.4 -31.6 4.4 74.5 37.6 20.0 202.9 4.9 -70.0 6.7

% Share 19.9 46.2 7.3 0.2 1.3 2.5 2.2 0.5 3.0 16.1 0.9 100.0

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On market shares, New Zealand continued to be the dominant source market for Samoa in 2016

accounting for 46.2% to 67,022 share while Australia rallied in second with 19.9%% to 28,912.

Pacific Islands, the third largest source market represented share of 16.1%, while USA accounted

for 7.3% share. All other countries accounted for the remaining 10.5%. Details are shown in Figure

C14.

Disaggregating arrivals by purpose of visit, all segments trended upward in 2016. Tourists on

visiting friends and relatives grew by 10.1%, business tourists up 5.7%, while leisure and other

segment went up by 5.6% and 0.3%, respectively. On shares, tourists on leisure accounted for the

majority of Samoa arrivals at 39.3% share, VFR with 33.4%, Other purpose of visit 19% while

business accounted for the remaining 8.4% share.

Figure C16: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Samoa Tourism Authority

Solomon Islands

Tourists visited Solomon Islands rose further by 7.3% (or 1,569) to 23,192 arrivals in 2016

following a similar 7.7% growth a year ago. The favourable performance was partly supported by

reports of massive international market campaigns, aimed at promoting Solomon Islands as one of

the world class dive destination. On drivers of growth, the upward trend was boosted by rising

arrivals from all source markets except United Kingdom and Japan which fell by 10.1% and 5%

respectively. Tourist arrivals from Other Countries although had a much smaller base posted the

highest growth by 32%. Growth was also supported by rising arrivals from Other Asia by 26%,

Pacific Islands 14.1%, Europe 13.7%, China 11.5%, New Zealand and USA each with 6.4% and

Australia up by 0.3%.

On market shares, Australia continued to be the dominant source market for Solomon Islands and

accounted for 41.1% share. However, this was below the 43.3% seen in the preceding year. Other

Pacific Islands, the second largest source market for Solomon Islands represented 19.3%, followed


2015 53771 43964 11512 27520 136767

2016 56985 48420 12168 27603 145176

% Change 6.0 10.1 5.7 0.3 6.1

% Share 39.3 33.4 8.4 19.0 100.0

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by New Zealand at 6.7%, USA 6.4% and Europe accounting for 4.1%. All other source markets

make up for the remaining 8.7% share. See details in Figure C17.

Figure C17: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands by Source Market, 2016

Source: Solomon Islands National Statistics Office and Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau

Analysis by purpose of visit showed that leisure and other segments posted growth by 27.1% and

10.5% respectively. By contrast, travels for the VFR and business segments dropped by 6.9% and

3.6%, respectively. On shares, the leisure segment received the highest at 31.5% to 7,295 share

overtaking business which accounted for 28.2% to 6,534. Tourists on visiting friends and relatives

represented 15.7% whilst tourists’ on other purposes’ recorded the remaining share of 24.7%. See

details in Figure C18

Figure C18: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands, by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Solomon Islands National Statistics Office and Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau

Australia

NewZealan

dUSA

Canada

UKEurop

eChina Japan

OtherAsia

PacificIsland

s

OtherCount

riesTotal

2015 9509 1451 1413 166 386 845 742 581 2506 3921 103 21623

2016 9,539 1,544 1,490 166 347 961 827 552 3,158 4,472 136 23192

% Change 0.3 6.4 5.4 0.0 -10.1 13.7 11.5 -5.0 26.0 14.1 32.0 7.3

% Share 41.1 6.7 6.4 0.7 1.5 4.1 3.6 2.4 13.6 19.3 0.6 100.0

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2015 5740 3902 6775 5187 21604

2016 7295 3631 6534 5732 23192

% Change 27.1 -6.9 -3.6 10.5 7.4

% Share 31.5 15.7 28.2 24.7 100.0

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Tonga

Tourist arrivals to Tonga in 2016 surged by 10% (or 5,399) to 59,130 following 6.5% growth

registered a year prior. The solid growth was fuelled mainly by a dramatic spike in arrivals from

China, one of Tonga’s fastest growing markets, rising by 35% to 1318 in 2016. The increasing

Chinese arrivals stemmed from reports of Tonga’s revised visa policies on granting tourists ‘visas

on arrival’. This bolstered significant bonus making travel for Chinese nationals easier and

convenient. On drivers of growth, the favourable performance in 2016 was boosted by increasing

arrivals from all major source markets except Europe and Japan which slipped by 3.3% and 5.4%

respectively. Leading market New Zealand posted growth by 6.8%, Australia 10.3%, USA 17.9%,

Other Asia 20.8%, other Pacific Islands 19.5% and other countries rising to 237 arrivals in 2016.

In terms of market shares, New Zealand continued its dominance at 46.6% to 27,545 share while

Australia the second major market accounted for 21.9% to 12,953 share. USA the third largest

market registered share of 13.7% while Pacific Islands and Europe represented 6.0% and 4.4%

respectively. The remaining 7.4% was shared amongst all the other source markets. Details are

shown in Figure C19.

Figure C19: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga by Source Market, 2016

Source: Ministry of Tourism, Tonga

Analysis by purpose of visit revealed that all segments showed positive growth in 2016 except

other segment which declined drastically by 61.7%. The leisure segment recorded the fastest

growth by 34.4%, VFR up 32.2% while business saw moderate growth at 6.3%. On shares, tourists

on visiting friends and relatives continued to dominate this destination and accounted for 44.2% to

26,150 share. Leisure tourists rallied second with 39.9% to 23,460 share while business accounted

for 8%. Tourists on other purpose of visit represented the remaining share of 7.8%.

Australia

NewZealand

USA Canada UK Europe Japan ChinaOtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2015 11739 25784 6878 229 784 2702 848 974 760 2978 55 53731

2016 12,953 27,545 8,107 233 843 2,614 802 1,318 918 3,560 237 59130

% Change 10.3 6.8 17.9 1.7 7.5 -3.3 -5.4 35.3 20.8 19.5 330.9 10.0

% Share 21.9 46.6 13.7 0.4 1.4 4.4 1.4 2.2 1.6 6.0 0.4 100.0

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Figure C20: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga, by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Ministry of Tourism, Tonga

Tuvalu

Tourist arrivals in Tuvalu grew further by 5.2% (or 121) in 2016 to 2465 arrivals following the

significant 69.6% growth in 2015. The positive trend was fuelled mainly by a dramatic spike in

arrivals from China, Canada and Other Countries. Growth was also supported by rising arrivals

from New Zealand, USA, Europe, and Other Asia source markets. This outweighed the decline in

arrivals from Australia, United Kingdom, Japan and other Pacific Islands during the year. See

Figure C21 for details

Figure C21: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Source Markets, 2016

Source: Tuvalu Department of Tourism

On market shares, other Pacific Islands despite the 12% slump, dominated arrivals in this

destination at 30.4% to 750 shares. New Zealand the second leading market recorded share of


2015 17458 19784 4475 12014 53731

2016 23460 26150 4757 4600 59130

% Change 34.4 32.2 6.3 -61.7 10.0

% Share 39.7 44.2 8.0 7.8 100.0

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sTotal

2015 312 308 110 3 66 148 4 169 279 852 93 2344

2016 310 362 120 15 43 191 75 148 314 750 138 2465

% Change -0.7 17.5 9.1 390.1 -34.8 29.1 1775.0 -12.4 12.5 -12.0 48.4 5.2

% Share 12.6 14.7 4.9 0.6 1.7 7.7 3.0 6.0 12.7 30.4 5.6 100.0

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14.7% to 362, followed closely by Other Asia and Australian markets with 12.7% and 12.6%,

respectively. All other countries accounted for the remaining 29.6% of which Europe represented

7.7% and Japan 6%. See details in Figure C21.

By purpose of visit, leisure and business tourists registered positive growth in 2016. In contrast,

tourist on other purpose of visit segment recorded 26% fall. Leisure tourists grew strongly by

27.4% whilst business tourists rose by 6.7%. On shares, the business segment continued to

dominate arrivals in Tuvalu recording shares of 48.9%. Leisure, the second leading segment

received 30.9% share while ‘other purposes’ represented 20.2%. See Figure C22 for details.

Figure C22: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Tuvalu Department of Tourism

Note: Tuvalu does not capture VFR statistics.

Vanuatu

Tourist arrivals to Vanuatu rebounded by 5.7% (or 5,165) growth to 95,117 in 2016. This reversed

the drastic fall of 17.3% in 2015 arising from the devastated impact of cyclone Pam during the year.

The upturn in 2016 was boosted mainly by significant growth in tourist arrivals from Europe rising

by 72% to 10,067 arrivals. Strong arrival growth from Japan by 43%, China 24%, other Countries

23%, and a moderate growth of 7% by Australia also attributed to the positive outturn. In contrast,

tourist arrivals from New Zealand and USA slumped by 19% and 2%, respectively.

On market shares, leading market Australia alone scooped 51.9% to 49,392 of the total tourist

arrivals in Vanuatu. Other Pacific Islands rallied second with 16.2% whilst New Zealand dropped

to third position with 11.5% and Europe closely behind at 10.6% share. All other countries

accounted for the remaining 9.8% share. See Figure C23 for further details

Leisure Business Others Total

2015 597 1130 675 2402

2016 762 1206 497 2465

% Change 27.6 6.7 -26.4 2.6

% Share 30.9 48.9 20.2 100.0

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Figure C23: Tourist Arrivals in Vanuatu by Source Market, 2016

Source: Vanuatu National Statistics Office

Disaggregating arrivals by purpose of visit, leisure tourists to Vanuatu rose by 11.7% while

business, VFR and other tourists registered decline in 2016. On shares, leisure tourists dominated

Vanuatu’s destination’s arrivals in 2016 and accounted for 74.7% to 71,088 shares. Business

tourists, the second highest represented share of 9.0%, VFR with 8.7% and the remaining 7.6% was

for visitors on other purposes. See Figure C24 below.

Figure C24: Tourist Arrivals in Vanuatu, by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Source: Vanuatu National Statistics Office

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA Europe China Japan

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2015 46098 13422 2962 5839 2186 633 16520 2292 89952

2016 49,392 10,931 2,893 10,067 2,736 903 15,386 2,809 95117

% Change 7 -19 -2 72 25 43 -7 23 5.7

% Share 51.9 11.5 3.0 10.6 2.9 0.9 16.2 3.0 100.0

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2015 63625 8495 8687 9145 89952

2016 71,088 8,300 8,521 7,208 95,117

% Change 11.7 -2.3 -1.9 -21.2 5.7

% Share 74.7 8.7 9.0 7.6 100.0

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5. Destination Analysis by Sea Arrivals

(In this section, only countries with available sea arrival data are reported.)

Tourist arrivals by sea rose considerably by 20% (or 176,685) to 1,059,152 in 2016 from 882,467

arrivals in 2015. Of the total, cruise arrivals in 2016 accounted for the majority at 99.8% to

1,057,334 while yacht arrivals represented the remaining 0.2% to 1,818. By destinations, all

countries recorded solid growth in tourist arrivals by sea except Kiribati, American Samoa and

Marshall Islands. Sea arrivals to Kiribati slumped by 58.5% to 1870, American Samoa down by

23.1% to 18,235 and Marshall Islands dipped by 20.7% 1100 in 2016.

Solomon Islands recorded the highest growth in sea arrivals in 2016, rising by more than three folds

to 13,523 arrivals from 4,348 in the preceding year. Tourist arrivals to Fiji by sea mainly cruise

arrivals also grew strongly by 50% (or 56,871) to 170,632 from 113,761 witnessed in the year prior.

Other destinations that also received high sea arrivals include PNG, rising by 39.3% to 19,123,

Vanuatu up 28.9% to 254,489, Tonga surged by 25.9% to 21,865 while New Caledonia and French

Polynesia went up by 14.7% to 509,463 and 13.1% to 48,852, respectively. Meanwhile, the latest

sea arrival data for Samoa for 2015 recorded 18,871. See Table R12 and Annex Table4.

Table R12: Tourist arrivals by sea to the Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries, 2016

2015 2016 Absolute

Change

% Change

2016

% Share

2016

American Samoa 23,717 18,235 -5,482 -23.1 1.7

Fiji 113,761 170,632 56,871 50.0 16.1


Kiribati 4,501 1,870 -2,631 -58.5 0.2

Marshall Islands 1388 1100 -288 -20.7 0.1

New Caledonia 444,124 509,463 65,339 14.7 48.1

PNG 13,724 19,123 5,399 39.3 1.8

Samoa 18,871 na

Solomon Islands 4,348 13523 9,175 211.0 1.3

Tonga 17,375 21,865 4,490 25.9 2.1

Vanuatu 197,471 254,489 57,018 28.9 24

Total 882,467 1,059,152 176,685 20.0 100.0

Source: NSOs, NTOs, SPTO & Central/Reserve Banks

In terms of shares, based on Table R12 and Figure R12, the top three destinations by sea arrivals in

the region in 2016 were New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji boosted mainly by the growing emerging

cruise market. New Caledonia alone represented 48.1% share of the total sea arrivals to 509,463

while Vanuatu and Fiji recorded shares of 24% and 16.1% respectively. All other destinations

accounted for the remaining 11.8%. See Figure R12 for details.

35

Figure R12: Destination Share (%) by sea arrivals to the Pacific ACP and SPTO, 2016

American Samoa 1.7%

Fiji 16.1%


Kiribati 0.2%

Marshall Islands 0.1%

New Caledonia 48.1%

PNG 1.8%


Tonga 2.1%

Vanuatu 24.0%

Annex Table 1: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries

Annual

Absolute Changes (%) Change (%) Share

Destinations 2014 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016

America Samoa 21603 20335 20050 -1268 -285 -5.9 -1.4 1.0 1.0

Cook Islands 121458 125132 146473 3674 21341 3.0 17.1 6.4 7.2

FSM 35440 30240 24125 -5200 -6,115 -14.7 -20.2 1.6 1.1

Fiji 692630 754835 792320 62205 37485 9.0 5.0 38.8 40.0

French Polynesia 180602 183831 192495 3229 8664 1.8 4.7 9.4 9.5

Kiribati 5111 4353 5018 -758 665 -14.8 15.3 0.2 0.2

Marshall Islands 4876 6311 9831 1435 3520 29.4 55.8 0.3 0.4

Nauru 0 0 3038 0 3038

0.0 0.1

New Caledonia 107187 114072 115676 6885 1604 6.4 1.4 5.9 5.7

Niue 7408 7707 7,818 299 111 4.0 1.4 0.3 0.3

Palau 140784 161931 138416 21147 -23515 15.0 -14.5 8.3 6.8

PNG 191442 184961 178509 -6481 -6452 -3.4 -3.5 9.5 8.8

Samoa 130653 136104 145176 5451 9072 4.2 6.7 6.9 7.2

Solomon Islands 20070 21623 23192 1553 1569 7.7 7.3 1.1 1.1

Timor Leste 48986 61037 71680 12051 10643 24.6 17.4 3.0 3.0

Tonga 50436 53731 59130 3295 5399 6.5 10.0 2.8 2.9

Tuvalu 1416 2344 2465 928 121 65.5 5.2 0.1 0.1

Vanuatu 108811 89952 95117 -18,859 5165 -17.3 5.7 4.6 4.7 Total 1,868,913 1,947,826 2,030,529 89,586 72,030 4.8 3.7 100 100

Source: NSOs, NTOs & SPTO

Annex Table 2: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries by Source Market

Annual

Absolute Changes % Change

% Share

Source Markets 2014 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016 2015 2016

Australia 608847 608933 607253 86 -1680 0.01 -0.28 32.6 31.2

New Zealand 327008 352389 400421 25381 48032 7.8 13.6 18.9 20.6

USA 177160 187543 193923 5177 6380 2.8 3.4 10.0 10.0

United Kingdom 34899 36315 34562 1707 -1753 4.9 -4.8 1.9 1.8

Europe 163768 169253 191261 4602 22010 2.8 13.0 9.1 9.8

China 88915 150458 142745 61543 -7713 69.2 -5.1 8.1 7.3

Japan 86239 74870 75701 -11369 831 -13.2 1.1 4.0 3.9

Other Asia 127041 100968 114959 -26073 13991 -20.5 13.9 5.4 5.9

Pacific Islands 132512 130976 126129 -1536 -4847 -1.2 -3.7 7.0 6.5

Other Countries 61201 55345 58027 1806 2682 3.4 4.8 3.0 3.0

Total 1807590 1867050 1944983 61324 77933 3.4 4.2 100.0 100.0


Annex Table 3: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Purpose of Visit, 2016

Purpose of Visits

% Share

Leisure VFR Business Others Total Leisure VFR Business Others

American Samoa 5051 11014 3460 525 20050 25.2 54.9 17.3 2.6

Cook Islands 125901 11968 5354 3250 146473 86.0 8.2 3.7 2.2

Fiji 600887 68262 47565 75606 792320 75.8 8.6 6.0 9.5

French Polynesia 156788 10906 13665 771 171697 91.3 6.4 8.0 0.4

Kiribati 5239 1784 1268 187 8470 61.9 21.1 15.0 2.2

New Caledonia 69097 25924 13513 11757 120291 57.4 21.6 11.2 9.8

PNG 56744 12027 127403 1458 197632 28.7 6.1 64.5 0.7

Samoa 56985 48420 12168 27603 145176 39.3 33.4 8.4 19

Solomon Islands 7295 3631 6534 5732 23192 31.5 15.7 28.2 24.7

Tonga 23460 26150 4757 4600 59130 39.7 44.2 8.0 7.8

Tuvalu 762 0 1206 497 2465 30.9 0.0 48.9 20.2

Vanuatu 71088 8300 8521 7208 95117 74.7 8.7 9.0 7.6

Total 1,179,286 228,385 245,415 139,194 1,784,014 66.2 12.8 13.8 7.2


Annex Table 4: Visitor Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Air & Sea

2015

2016

Air Arrivals (A) Sea Arrivals (B)

Total Visitor Arrivals Air Arrivals (A) Sea Arrivals (B)

Total Visitor Arrivals

Cruise Yacht

Total sea Arrivals (A+B)

Cruise Yacht

Total Sea Arrivals (A+B)

America Samoa 20335 23,717

23717 44,052 20,050 18235

18,235 38,285

Cook Islands 125132

125132 146,473

146,473

FSM 30240

30240 24,125

24,125

Fiji 754835 113761

113761 868596 792,320 170,632

170632 962,952

French Polynesia 183831 43187

43187 227018 192,495 48,852

48,852 241,347

Kiribati 4353 4,501

4501 8854 5,018 1,870

1870 6,888

Marshall Islands 6311 1388

6311 9831 1100

1100 10931

Nauru 3,038

3038 3,038

3,038

New Caledonia 114072 444,124

444,124 558,196 115,676 509,463

509463 625,139

Niue 7707

7707 7,818

7,818

Palau 161931

161931 138,416

138,416

PNG 184961 13,724

13724 198685 178509 19,123

19123 197,632

Samoa 136104 18871

18871 154975 145,175

145176 145,176

Solomon Islands 21623 4348

4348 25971 23,192 13523

13523 36,715

Timor Leste 61037

61037 71,680

71,680

Tonga 53731 17375

71106 59,130 20,047 1818 21,865 80,995

Tuvalu 2344

2344 2,465

2,465

Vanuatu 79279 197,471

197471 276750 95117 254,489

254489 349,606

Total 1,950,864 882,467

882,467 2,833,331 2,030,529 1,057,334 1,818 1,059,152 3,089,681

Source: NTOs, NSOs & SPTO

Report obtainable from:

South Pacific Tourism Organisation

P.O.Box 13119

Suva

Fiji

Telephone: (679) 3304177

Fax: (679) 3301995

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.spto.org


http://www.spto.org/

South Pacific Tourism Organisation Level 3, FNPF Place, 343-359 Victoria Parade

P.O. Box 13119, Suva, Fiji Islands. Phone: +679 3304177 | Fax: +679 3301995

Email: [email protected] Website: www.spto.org

‘Marketing and Developing Tourism in the South Pacific’

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