quarterly review of tourist arrivals in pacific island … · 2017. 9. 17. · annual visitor...

I

QUARTERLY REVIEW OF TOURIST ARRIVALS IN

PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES

QUARTER 2, 2017

September, 2017

II

Report prepared by : Research & Statistics Division

Contacts : Elizabeth Ragimana ([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

September 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 5

Australian Market 5

New Zealand Market 6

United States of America Market 8

United Kingdom Market 9

Europe Market 11

Japanese Market 12

Chinese Market 14

Other Asia Market 15

Pacific Islands Market 17

Other Countries Market 18

4. Destination Analysis 20

(Only countries with complete data)

American Samoa 20

Cook Islands 21

Fiji 23

Kiribati 24

Palau 26

PNG 26

Samoa 28

Solomon Islands 29

Timor Leste 31

Tonga 32

Tuvalu 33

IV

Tables & Figures

Figure W1: World Tourist Arrivals by % Growth, Quarter 2 2017 ............................................................................... 1

Table R1: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, Quarter 2, 2017 ......................................... 2

Figure R1: Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, Quarter 2, 2017 ....................................... 3

Table R2:Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Source Market, Q2,2017........................ 4

Figure R2: Tourist Arrivals in Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries by Source Market, Q2, 2017 .................... 4

Table R3: Australian Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 .................................................................... 5

Figure R3: Destination Share (%) of the Australian Market, Quarter 2, 2017............................................................... 6

Table R4: New Zealand Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................... 7

Figure R4: Destination Share (%) of the New Zealand Market, Quarter 2, 2017 .......................................................... 7

Table R5: USA Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................................ 8

Figure R5: Destination Share (%) of the USA Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ....................................................................... 9

Table R6: UK Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................................ 10

Figure R6: Destination Share (%) of the UK Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ....................................................................... 10

Table R7: Europe Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 ....................................................................... 11

Figure R7: Destination Share (%) of the Europe Market, Quarter 2, 2017.................................................................. 12

Table R8: Japanese Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 .................................................................... 13

Figure R8: Destination Share (%) of the Japanese Market, Quarter 2 2017 ................................................................ 13

Table R9: Chinese Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 .................................................................... 14

Figure R9: Destination Share (%) of the Chinese Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ................................................................ 15

Table R10: Other Asia Market by Destination and Share, Quarter 2 2017 ................................................................. 16

Figure R10: Destination Share (%) of Other Asia Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................... 16

Table R11; Pacific Islands by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 ....................................................................... 17

Figure R11; Destination Share (%) of the Pacific Islands Market, Quarter 2, 2017 .................................................... 18

Table R12; Other Countries by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017 ..................................................................... 19

Figure R12; Destination Share (%) of Other Countries Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ....................................................... 19

Figure C1: Tourist Arrivals in American Samoa by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 .............................................. 20

Figure C2: Tourist Arrivals in American Samoa by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................ 21

Figure C3: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ....................................................... 22

Figure C4: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ..................................................... 22

Figure C5: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ...................................................................... 23

Figure C6: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 .................................................................... 24

Figure C7: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ................................................................ 25

Figure C8: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................. 25

Figure C9: Tourist Arrivals in Palau by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ................................................................... 26

Figure C10: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ........................................... 27

Figure C11: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ......................................... 28

Figure C12: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................... 28

Figure C13: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................. 29

Figure C14: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................... 30

Figure C15: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................. 30

Figure C16: Tourist Arrivals in Timor Leste by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ...................................................... 31

Figure C17: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ................................................................ 32

Figure C18: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................. 33

Figure C19: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................... 33

Figure C20: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017 ............................................................ 34

V

PREFACE

The Quarterly Review of Tourist Arrivals in Pacific Island Countries for the Second Quarter

of 2017 is published by the South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO). This report presents a

review of tourist arrivals in Pacific Island countries in the Second Quarter of 2017 with

comparative analysis over the preceding quarter and the corresponding period of the prior year.

Of the eighteen Pacific Island countries, eleven responded with the required data. The remaining

countries either submitted partial or no data at all. SPTO will continue its efforts to collect timely

data from all member countries for inclusion in the next Quarterly 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

Annual Visitor Arrivals Review Report

Key highlights of Tourist Arrivals in Q2 2017

Global tourism growth continued to gain momentum with international tourist arrivals

reaching 6.0% growth in the Second Quarter of 2017.

International Visitor Arrivals (IVA) to the Asia and the Pacific region grew by 8% in the

June Quarter boosted by solid growth in IVA to the South Asia and Oceania regions.

Mirroring the robust global tourism performances, tourist arrivals to the Pacific ACP and

SPTO member countries accelerated to 516,741 in the Second Quarter of 2017.This was

18.4% up from the preceding quarter and 5.5% above the same period last year.

Fiji, French Polynesia and Cook Islands, the region‟s top three destinations in the June

Quarter accounted for arrival shares of 40.6%, 9.1% and 8.2%, respectively.

The region‟s major source markets rebounded to 464,256 in June Quarter, 8.6% up from

the prior quarter, but 0.6% below the corresponding period last year.

Australia and New Zealand remained the region‟s two leading markets in the Second

Quarter with shares of 31.7% and 22.5%, respectively.

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 18 Pacific Island Countries

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

Demand for international tourism remained robust in the Second Quarter of 2017, following the

4.7% growth witnessed in the prior quarter. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism

Barometer, global international tourist arrivals grew by 6% in the first six months of 2017 to 598

million1 compared to the corresponding period last year. Growth was well above the trend of recent

years, making the current January to June period the strongest half-year since 2010. The solid

growth of 36 million international arrivals reflected the stable growth and steady improvement in

most of the major tourist destinations across the globe over the first six months of the year.

By UNWTO regions, growth was strong with Middle East recording the highest in international

tourist arrivals by 9% in the June Quarter compared to the corresponding period last year. The

second highest regions Europe and Africa, each recorded international tourist arrivals growth of

8%. This was followed by Asia and the Pacific growing at 6% and the Americas at 3%. The results

reflected healthy growth in an increasingly dynamic and resilient tourism market, including a strong

recovery in some of the destinations impacted by security changes last year. See Figure W1 for

details.

Figure W1: World Tourist Arrivals by Percent (%) Growth, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: UNWTO World Tourism Barometer

For the Asia and the Pacific region, growth was led by South Asia at 12%, followed by Oceania

which includes the Pacific region at 8%. South East Asia and North East Asia registered growth of

7% and 4%, respectively. Based on the current strong momentum, the UNWTO Panel of experts

projected international tourist arrivals worldwide in 2017 to be much better than 2016 growing at

around 3% to 4%.

1 Source, UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, September 2017

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Asia & Pacific Africa Americas Europe Middle East World Growth

Inte

rnat

ion

al T

ou

rist

Arr

ival

s (%

Ch

ange

)

Q1 2017 Q2 2017

2

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

Mirroring the robust global tourism growth, tourist arrivals in the Pacific ACP and SPTO member

countries² rebounded by 18.4% (or 80,230) in the Second Quarter of 2017 to 516,471. This reversed

the consecutive decline witnessed in the preceding two quarters. Year to June arrivals reached

949,712, up 2.8% over the corresponding six months last year. The marked turnaround reflected a

number of massive tourism promotional campaigns, increased in new air service arrangements and

flight schedules and improved tourism infrastructure developments undertaken by most of the

major destinations in the region. Consequently, tourist arrivals to the region accelerated, triggered

by rising international arrivals to American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New

Caledonia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. This

outweighed the falling arrivals to Kiribati, Nauru, Palau and Timor Leste. Compared to the

corresponding quarter of 2016, tourist arrivals to the region also grew by 5.5% with Timor Leste

showing the highest growth by 52.2%

Table R1: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, Quarter 2, 2017

2016 2017

Absolute Change % change

% share

Q2 Q1[p] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

America Samoa 6154 4622 5845 1223 -309 26.5 -5.0 1.1

Cook Islands 37978 28661 42335 13674 4357 47.7 11.5 8.2

FSM 5863 5863 5900 37 37 0.6 0.6 1.1

Fiji 191640 163226 209460 46234 17820 28.3 9.3 40.6

French Polynesia 49538 41755 47116 5361 -2422 12.8 -4.9 9.1

Kiribati 1452 1360 1109 -251 -343 -18.5 -23.6 0.2

Marshall Islands 1165 1221 1226 5 61 0.4 5.2 0.2

Nauru 0 3002 3000 -2 3000 -0.1 0.6

New Caledonia 22530 26917 26972 55 4442 0.2 19.7 5.2

Niue 2340 1960 2000 40 -340 2.1 -14.5 0.4

Palau 31659 30566 29212 -1354 -2447 -4.4 -7.7 5.7

PNG 44113 36385 39979 3594 -4134 9.9 -9.4 7.7

Samoa 35462 29633 36139 6506 677 22.0 1.9 7.0

Solomon Islands 5679 4881 6425 1544 746 31.6 13.1 1.2

Timor Leste 16880 25946 25697 -249 8817 -1.0 52.2 5.0

Tonga 15520 8847 9999 1152 -5521 13.0 -35.6 1.9

Tuvalu 618 521 545 24 -73 4.6 -11.8 0.1

Vanuatu 20983 20875 23512 2637 2529 12.6 12.1 4.6

Total 489574 436241 516471 80230 26896 18.4 5.5 100.0

Source: NTOs, NSOs & SPTO.

Notes: Data in red are SPTO estimates based on the average of the past four months [p] provisional.

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, Niue and partial data for French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu

3

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

40.6% share, up from the 36.9% share in the First Quarter of 2017. The second highest, French

Polynesia registered an estimated share of 9.1%. This was followed by Cook Islands at 8.2%

overtaking PNG which reduced to 7.7%, Samoa at 7.0%, Palau 5.7%, Timor Leste 5.0% and New

Caledonia and Vanuatu with estimated share of 5.2% and 4.6%, respectively, The remaining 7.0%

was shared among all the other destinations in the region. The summary is presented in Table R1

and Figure R1.

Figure R1: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member Countries, Quarter 2, 2016

Source: NTOs, NSOs & SPTO

Following two quarters of deceleration, the region‟s major source markets bounced back by 8.6% to

464,256 arrivals in the June Quarter. The acceleration of 36,887 arrivals against the previous

quarter was underlined by rising arrivals from the Pacific‟s four leading source markets, Australia

by 22%, New Zealand 56.4%, USA 4.2% and Other Asia by 4.7%. This outweighed the decline in

other major source markets including United Kingdom, Europe, China, Japan, Pacific Islands and

Other Countries. Against the same quarter in 2016, arrivals by major source markets to the region

however, fell mildly by 0.6% with Europe showing the highest fall by 25.8%.

Of the total arrivals to the region, Australia and New Zealand the leading markets for the region in

the Second Quarter, recorded shares of 31.7% and 22.5%, respectively. USA, the third highest

source market represented 10.2%, followed by Other Asia at 9.1%, China 7.0% while Europe and

Pacific Islands each with shares of 6.5%. The other source markets made up the remaining 6.5% at

the end of the Second Quarter. Details are clearly shown in Table R2 and Figure R2.

AmericaSamoa

CookIslands

FSM FijiFrench

PolynesiaKiribati

MarshallIslands

NauruNew

CaledoniaNiue Palau PNG Samoa

SolomonIslands

TimorLeste

Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu

2016 Q2 6154 37978 5863 191640 49538 1452 1165 0 22530 2340 31659 44113 35462 5679 16880 15520 618 20983

2017 Q1 4622 28661 5863 163226 41755 1360 1221 3002 26917 1960 30566 36385 29633 4881 25946 8847 521 20875

2017 Q2 5845 42335 5900 209460 47116 1109 1226 3000 26972 2000 29212 39979 36139 6425 25697 9999 545 23512

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 26.5 47.7 0.6 28.3 12.8 -18.5 0.4 -0.1 0.2 2.1 -4.4 9.9 22.0 31.6 -1.0 13.0 4.6 12.6

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 -5.0 11.5 0.6 9.3 -4.9 -23.6 5.2 0.0 19.7 -14.5 -7.7 -9.4 1.9 13.1 52.2 -35.6 -11.8 12.1

% share Q2 17 1.1 8.2 1.1 40.6 9.1 0.2 0.2 0.6 5.2 0.4 5.7 7.7 7.0 1.2 5.0 1.9 0.1 4.6

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

%

Tou

rist

Arr

ival

4

Table R2: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO member countries by Source Market, Q2 2017

2016 2017


% share

Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

Australia 150204 120482 147036 26555 -3168 22.0 -2.1 31.7

NZ 100635 66856 104574 37718 3939 56.4 3.9 22.5

USA 52757 45611 47509 1898 -5248 4.2 -9.9 10.2

UK 8336 7905 7426 -479 -910 -6.1 -10.9 1.6

Europe 40891 38015 30333 -7682 -10558 -20.2 -25.8 6.5

China 32768 36221 32337 -3884 -431 -10.7 -1.3 7.0

Japan 13951 23683 11748 -11935 -2203 -50.4 -15.8 2.5

Other Asia 25515 40358 42239 1881 16724 4.7 65.5 9.1

Pacific Islands 30691 35476 30229 -5247 -462 -14.8 -1.5 6.5

Other

Countries

11083 12763 10825 -1938 -258 -15.2 -2.3 2.3

Total 466831 427369 464256 36887 -2575 8.6 -0.6 100.0

Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO

Notes: [r] revised, [p] provisional

Figure R2: Tourist Arrivals to Pacific ACP and SPTO Member countries by Source Market, Q2, 2017

Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO

Australia NZ USA UK Europe China JapanOtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountrie

s

2016 Q2 150204 100635 52757 8336 40891 32768 13951 25515 30691 11083

2017 Q1 120482 66856 45611 7905 38015 36221 23683 40358 35476 12763

2017 Q2 147036 104574 47509 7426 30333 32337 11748 42239 30229 10825

% Change Q2 17/Q1 17 22.0 56.4 4.2 -6.1 -20.2 -10.7 -50.4 4.7 -14.8 -15.2

% Change Q2 17/Q2 16 -2.1 3.9 -9.9 -10.9 -25.8 -1.3 -15.8 65.5 -1.5 -2.3

% share Q2 2017 31.7 22.5 10.2 1.6 6.5 7.0 2.5 9.1 6.5 2.3

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

160000

%

Tou

rist

Arr

ival

s

5

3. Market Performance

Australian Market

Australian tourists visited the region bounced back by 22.0% to 147,036 in the Second Quarter of

2017, following two trouble quarters. The strong pickup of 26,555 arrivals against the previous

quarter was boosted by surge in arrivals to Australia‟s two top Pacific destinations, Fiji and Papua

New Guinea (PNG). Australian tourists to Fiji grew strongly by 32.7% to 91,823 after two weak

quarters. The upsurge was driven mainly by the new air service arrangements between Australia

and Fiji and the additional flight schedules to Adelaide that substantially increase airline passengers

during the quarter. Meanwhile, the solid growth of Australian tourists to PNG by 26.2% to 20,568

reflected PNG new air services to Townsville during the Quarter. The direct flight path not only

boosts business connections but also benefit PNG‟s tourism as a “one stop” to Asia connection and

also to the Pacific Island countries.

Table R3: Australian Tourists by Destination and Destination Share, Quarter 2, 2017 2016 2017 Absolute Change % change % share

Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 215 205 215 10 0 4.9 0.0 0.1

Cook Islands 5684 4473 6292 1819 608 40.7 10.7 4.3

Fiji 87977 69220 91823 22603 3846 32.7 4.4 62.4

French Polynesia 2883 1849 1557* -292 -1326 -15.8 -46.0 1.1

Kiribati 280 216 188 -28 -92 -13.0 -32.9 0.1

Marshall Islands 52 69 n/a

New Caledonia 4338 3783 2279** -1504 -2059 -39.8 -47.5 1.5

Niue 132 151 n/a

Palau 257 163 204 41 -53 25.2 -20.6 0.1

PNG 24623 16297 20568 4271 -4055 26.2 -16.5 14.0

Samoa 7182 6073 7195 1122 13 18.5 0.2 4.9

Solomon Islands 2445 1867 2684 817 239 43.8 9.8 1.8

Timor Leste 0 4006 3274 -732 -18.3 2.2

Tonga 3470 1670 2165 495 -1305 29.6 -37.6 1.5

Tuvalu 103 70 91 21 -12 30.0 -11.7 0.1

Vanuatu 10563 10370 8501* -1869 -2062 -18.0 -19.5 5.8

Total 150204 120482 147036 26555 -3168 22.0 -2.1 100

Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO. Data in red are SPTO estimates based on the average of the past four months

Notes: Data for Nauru and FSM not available in all Quarters.

[r] revised, [n/a] not available, [p] provisional

* Partial data for April & May, ** for April only

Notable increases were also seen in Australian arrivals to Solomon Islands by 43.9%, Cook Islands

40.7%, Tuvalu 30%, Tonga 29.6%, Palau 25.2%, Samoa 18.5% and a moderate growth of 4.9% by

American Samoa. Compared to the corresponding quarter last year, Australian arrivals to the region

fell slightly by 2.1% driven by decline in Australian arrivals to Tonga, Kiribati, Palau, PNG and

6

Tuvalu over the period. Partial data for French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu relative to

the corresponding quarter last year also attributed to the fall. See Table R3 for details.

On market shares, Fiji remained dominant and fared the highest number of Australian arrivals with

more than half of the total arrivals at 62.4%, up from 56.2% in the preceding quarter. Papua New

Guinea maintained the second highest share at 14.0%, up from 13.2% in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, Vanuatu despite the limited arrival data for the quarter remained the third highest for

the Australian market at 5.8%. All other destinations accounted for the remaining 23.6% share with

Samoa and Cook Islands accounted for 4.9% and 4.3%, respectively. Details are shown in Table R3

and Figure R3.

Figure R3: Destination Share (%) of the Australian Market, Quarter 2, 2017

New Zealand Market

New Zealand tourists to the region rose significantly by 56.4% to 104,574 in the June Quarter from

66,857 arrivals in the previous quarter. The absolute increase of 37,718 arrivals against the prior

quarter reflected the surge in arrivals to New Zealand two leading Pacific destinations, Fiji and

Cook Islands. New Zealand arrivals to Fiji bounced back quickly from the weak First Quarter

recording a solid growth of 97.5% to 46,857 arrivals in the Second Quarter. The remarkable

performance was triggered by a significant increase in outbound New Zealanders to Fiji by 92.6%

during the quarter. Meanwhile, the significant 78.1% increase to 29,664 arrivals to Cook Islands

from this source market reflected the additional flights serving this route and the 83.8% surge in

outbound New Zealand residents to Cook Islands over the period.

Other destinations that also witnessed an influx of New Zealand tourists during the quarter include

Solomon Islands rising by 52.5%, Kiribati 24%, Tuvalu 20%, Palau 17.6%, Samoa 16.1%, PNG

10%, American Samoa 9.6% and Tonga increasing by 6.8%. Latest available arrival data for French

Polynesia and Vanuatu for April and May also supported the positive outturn outstripping the

previous quarter by growth of 22.9% and 20.5%, respectively. Compared to the corresponding

American Samoa 0.1%

Cook Islands 4.3%

Fiji 62.4%

French Polynesia 1.1%

Kiribati 0.1%

New Caledonia 1.5%

Palau 0.1%

PNG 14.0%

Samoa 4.9%

Solomon Islands 1.8%

Timo Leste 2.2%

Tonga 1.5%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 5.8%

7

quarter of 2016, arrivals from this source market was up by 3.9%. This was driven mainly by

increasing New Zealand tourists to Fiji, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, American Samoa and

Samoa over the period. See Table R4 for details.

Table R4:– New Zealand Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017

2016 2017 Absolute Change % change % share

Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 833 793 869 76 36 9.6 4.3 0.8

Cook Islands 27112 16657 29664 13007 2552 78.1 9.4 28.4

Fiji 39761 23732 46859 23127 7098 97.5 17.9 44.8

French Polynesia 1796 1395 1714* 319 -82 22.9 -4.6 1.6

Kiribati 203 75 93 18 -110 24.0 -54.2 0.1


New Caledonia 1777 1190 899** -291 -878 -24.5 -49.4 0.9

Niue 1888 1544 n/a

Palau 0 34 40 6 40 17.6 0.0

PNG 2220 1787 1965 178 -255 10.0 -11.5 1.9

Samoa 15144 13431 15589 2158 445 16.1 2.9 14.9

Solomon Islands 439 301 459 158 20 52.5 4.6 0.4

Timor Leste 0 265 205 -60 205 -22.6 0.2

Tonga 6952 4214 4542 328 -2410 7.8 -34.7 4.3

Tuvalu 99 45 54 9 -45 20.0 -45.5 0.1

Vanuatu 2385 1346 1622* 276 -763 20.5 -32.0 1.6

Total 100635 66856 104574 37718 3939 56.4 3.9 100.0


Notes: Data for Nauru and FSM not available in all Quarters


*Partial data for April & May, ** for April only

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

American Samoa 0.8%

Cook Islands 28.4%

Fiji 44.8%


Kiribati 0.1%

New Caledonia 0.9%

Palau 0.0%

PNG 1.9%

Samoa 14.9%


Timor Leste 0.2%

Tonga 4.3%

Tuvalu 0.1% Vanuatu

1.6%

8

On market shares, Fiji received the highest from this market at 44.8%, up from 34.4% share in the

preceding quarter. The second highest Cook Islands received 28.4% of this market share, followed

by Samoa at 14.9% and Tonga at 4.3%. The remaining 7.6% was shared among all the other

countries. Table R4 and Figure R4 illustrates more details.

USA Market

Tourist arrivals from the USA market rebounded by 8.3% to 47,509 in the June Quarter, reversing

the consecutive decline in the past three quarters since September 2016. The pickup against the

previous quarter, partly reflected reports of USA residents taking long vacations during the quarter.

Consequently, growth was driven by rising USA tourists to Solomon Islands by 90.3%, Timor

Leste 81.7%, Tonga 63.7%, Samoa 36.3%, Tuvalu 34.5%, Fiji 23.1%, Cook Islands 13.8%,

American Samoa 8.1% and Palau rising slightly by 2.6%. Against the June quarter of 2016, USA

arrivals to the region dropped by 9.9%. This was mainly due to the reduction in USA arrivals to

Tonga, American Samoa, Kiribati, PNG, Tuvalu, Palau and Samoa over the period. Low USA

tourist arrivals to French Polynesia, the second highest destination for this source market, New

Caledonia and Vanuatu associated with limited data for the quarter also in part attributed to the

decline. Details are clearly shown in Table R5.

Table R5: USA Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017


Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 1395 1050 1135 85 -260 8.1 -18.6 2.4

Cook Islands 1729 1973 2245 272 516 13.8 29.8 4.7

Fiji 18439 17139 21091 3952 2652 23.1 14.4 44.4


Kiribati 377 526 310 -216 -67 -41.1 -17.8 0.7


New Caledonia 299 166 48** -118 -251 -71.1 -83.9 0.1

Niue 46 37 n/a

Palau 2131 2031 2084 53 -47 2.6 -2.2 4.4

PNG 1884 1567 1520 -47 -364 -3.0 -19.3 3.2

Samoa 3047 2217 3021 804 -26 36.3 -0.9 6.4

Solomon Islands 444 237 451 214 7 90.3 1.6 0.9

Timor Leste 0 492 894 402 894 81.7 1.9

Tonga 2682 1105 1809 704 -873 63.7 -32.6 3.8

Tuvalu 43 29 39 10 -4 34.5 -9.3 0.1

Vanuatu 674 601 475* -126 -199 -21.0 -29.5 1.0

Total 52757 45611 47509 1898 -5248 8.3 -9.9 100.0





9

In terms of share, majority of the USA tourists at 44.4% visited Fiji during the Second Quarter of

2017. French Polynesia continued to remain the second highest destination for this market with

shares of 26.1% although arrivals were only for April and May. This was followed by Samoa and

Cook Islands with 6.4% and 4.4% shares, respectively. All other countries accounted for the

remaining 18.4%, of which, Palau represented 4.4%. Details are clearly shown in Table R5 and

Figure R5

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

United Kingdom Market

Tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom (UK) fell by 6.1% in the Second Quarter of 2017 to

7,426 arrivals as opposed to the 10% rise in the preceding quarter. The drop partly reflected the

impact of the general elections and the Brexit on the British holidaymakers during the quarter. On

drivers, the decline was triggered by the fall in UK tourists to Cook Islands by 44.9%, Tonga

42.8%, Kiribati 27%, Tuvalu 6.7%, Palau 5.3%, PNG 3.7%, Solomon Islands 3.3%, and Fiji falling

by 2.9%. This outweighed the rising UK arrivals to Samoa by 98.2%, Timor Leste 31.3%, and

American Samoa by 4.3%. Compared to the corresponding quarter of 2016, UK tourist arrivals also

fell by 10.9%. The decline was associated with the reduction in UK arrivals to all the countries in

the region except for Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and Samoa which rose by 27.3%, 8.5% and 5%,

respectively.

On market shares, more than half of the total UK tourists at 55.3% visited Fiji during the June

Quarter, up from 52.5% share registered in the March Quarter. PNG the second highest received

10% overtaking Cook Islands which reduced to 6.9% whilst Samoa the third highest represented

9% of the total share during the quarter. The remaining 25.8% was shared among all other

destinations in the region, of which French Polynesia accounted for 8.4% despite arrivals were only

for a two months record. Details are illustrated in Table R6 and Figure R6.

American Samoa 2.4%

Cook Islands 4.7%

Fiji 44.4%


Kiribati 0.7%

New Caledonia 0.1%

Palau 4.4%

PNG 3.2%

Samoa 6.4%


Timo Leste 1.9%

Tonga 3.8%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 1.0%

10

Table R6: United Kingdom Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017

2016 2017


% share

Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 32 23 24 1 -8 4.3 -25.0 0.3

Cook Islands 512 926 510 -416 -2 -44.9 -0.4 6.9

Fiji 4117 4227 4103 -124 -14 -2.9 -0.3 55.3


Kiribati 45 37 27 -10 -18 -27.0 -40.0 0.4


New Caledonia 357 139 47** -92 -310 -66.2 -86.8 0.6

Niue 54 33 n/a

Palau 171 150 142 -8 -29 -5.3 -17.0 1.9

PNG 1017 767 739 -28 -278 -3.7 -27.3 10.0

Samoa 636 337 668 331 32 98.2 5.0 9.0

Solomon Islands 82 92 89 -3 7 -3.3 8.5 1.2

Timor Leste 0 272 357 85 357 31.3 4.8

Tonga 189 138 79 -59 -110 -42.8 -58.2 1.1

Tuvalu 11 15 14 -1 3 -6.7 27.3 0.2

Total 8336 7905 7426 -479 -910 -6.1 -10.9 100.0





Figure R6: Destination Share (%) of the United Kingdom Market

American Samoa 0.3%

Cook Islands 6.9%

Fiji 55.3%


Kiribati 0.4%

New Caledonia 0.6%

Palau 1.9%

PNG 10.0%

Samoa 9.0%


Timor Leste 4.8%

Tonga 1.1%

Tuvalu 0.2%

11

European Market

Tourist arrivals from the European Market to the region weakened further by 20.2% to 30,333

arrivals in the June Quarter following consecutive decline in the past three quarters. The

deceleration partly reflected reports of around 4% of the European travellers delaying their holidays

due to the uncertainty surrounding the Brexit during the quarter. On drivers, the backdrop against

the March Quarter stemmed from the fall in European tourists to Palau by 43.6%, Tonga 29.5%,

Cook Islands 27.3%, Tuvalu 26.8%, Kiribati 25.9% and PNG dropping by 23.1%. The limited data

for the Quarter by the European two top Pacific destinations, French Polynesia and New Caledonia

including Vanuatu also attributed to the deceleration. Meanwhile, European tourists to Fiji,

Solomon Islands, Timor Leste and American Samoa increased during the quarter with the latter

showing the fastest growth by 94.1%. Compared to the June Quarter last year, European tourists to

the region also fell by 25.8%. The decline stemmed from drop in European tourists to Kiribati,

PNG, Tonga and Tuvalu.

Table R7: European Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017


Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 97 68 132 64 35 94.1 36.1 0.4

Cook Islands 1731 2508 1823 -685 92 -27.3 5.3 6.0

Fiji 7305 7898 8386 488 1081 6.2 14.8 27.6


Kiribati 55 54 40 -14 -15 -25.9 -27.3 0.1


New Caledonia 10786 8960 2914** -6046 -7872 -67.5 -73.0 9.6

Niue 114 80 n/a

Palau 733 1443 814 -629 81 -43.6 11.1 2.7

PNG 1472 1636 1258 -378 -214 -23.1 -14.5 4.1

Samoa 1178 762 1250 488 72 64.0 6.1 4.1

Solomon Islands 182 181 204 23 22 12.7 12.1 0.7

Timor Leste 0 2722 2790 68 2790 2.5 9.2

Tonga 483 414 292 -122 -191 -29.5 -39.5 1.0

Tuvalu 59 41 30 -11 -29 -26.8 -49.2 0.1

Vanuatu 2478 1567 1130* -437 -1348 -27.9 -54.4 3.7

Total 40891 38015 30333 -7682 -10558 -20.2 -25.8 100





12

On market shares, French Polynesia despite the partial arrival data for the Quarter showed the

highest at 30.6% of the total European tourists. Fiji the second highest accounted for 27.6%, up

from 20.4% share in the March Quarter. New Caledonia despite the limited arrival data for the June

Quarter represented the third highest at 9.6%, followed by Timor Leste at 9.2% and Cook Islands at

6%. The remaining 17% was shared amongst all other countries in the region, of which PNG and

Samoa each had shares of 4.1%. See Table R7 and Figure R7 for further details.

Figure R7; Destination Share (%) of the Europe Market

Japanese Market

Japanese tourists after rebounded in the First Quarter dropped considerably by 50.4% to 11,748

arrivals in the June Quarter. The drastic fall was driven mainly by drop in arrivals to Japanese key

destination for the quarter, Palau by 25.3% to 5,595. This was triggered by the reduction in both

scheduled and seasonal charter flights by Japanese Airlines to Palau during the quarter. Other

regional destinations that also witnessed falling Japanese arrivals include PNG by 34.3%, Timor

Leste 33.7%, Fiji 25.6%, Kiribati 23.5%, Tonga 20% and Samoa by 5.4%. The decline in Japanese

tourists to French Polynesia and New Caledonia arising from limited data for the quarter also partly

explained the unfavourable outcome. Meanwhile, Japanese arrivals to America Samoa, Cook

Islands, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu showed positive growth against the preceding quarter. Against

the June Quarter last year, Japanese tourists to the region fell by 15.8% with Kiribati, Samoa and

Tuvalu driving the fall.

On market shares, majority of the Japanese tourists visited Palau at 47.6%. French Polynesia

despite of the limited data accounted for the second highest at 15.8% share. The third main

destination for this source market, Fiji represented 11.2%, followed by New Caledonia at 10.9%,

although this was solely for the month of April. All other countries accounted for the remaining

14.4% share. Details are shown in Table R8 and Figure R8.

American Samoa 0.4%

Cook Islands 6.0%

Fiji 27.6%


Kiribati 0.1%

New Caledonia 9.6%

Palau 2.7%

PNG 4.1%

Samoa 4.1%


Timo Leste 9.2%

Tonga 1.0%

Tuvalu 0.1%

Vanuatu 3.7%

13

Table R8: Japanese Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017


Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q22017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 15 12 17 5 2 41.7 13.3 0.1

Cook Islands 118 91 120 29 2 31.9 1.7 1.0

Fiji 1282 1767 1315 -452 33 -25.6 2.6 11.2


Kiribati 46 51 39 -12 -7 -23.5 -15.2 0.3


New Caledonia 3338 8308 1279** -7029 -2059 -84.6 -61.7 10.9

Niue 21 20 n/a

Palau 4926 7490 5595 -1895 669 -25.3 13.6 47.6

PNG 547 881 579 -302 32 -34.3 5.9 4.9

Samoa 162 152 143 -9 -19 -5.9 -11.7 1.2

Solomon Islands 83 154 182 28 99 18.2 119.3 1.5

Timor Leste 0 445 295 -150 295 -33.7 2.5

Tonga 121 185 148 -37 27 -20.0 22.3 1.3

Tuvalu 50 27 37 10 -13 37.0 -26.0 0.3

Vanuatu 174 206 137* -69 -37 -33.5 -21.3 1.2

Total 13951 23683 11748 -11935 -2203 -50.4 -15.8 100.0





Figure R8: Destination Share (%) of the Japanese Market

American Samoa 0.1%

Cook Islands 1.0%

Fiji 11.2%


Kiribati 0.3% New

Caledonia 10.9% Palau

47.6%

PNG 4.9%

Samoa 1.2%


Timo Leste 2.5%

Tonga 1.3%

Tuvalu 0.3%

Vanuatu 1.2%

14

Chinese Market

Chinese tourists, following a strong growth in March Quarter dropped by 10.7% to 32,337 arrivals

in the June Quarter. The downturn was driven by the decline in Chinese arrivals to Fiji, the second

largest destination for this source market in the region by 17.6% to 11,086 arrivals. The

unfavourable performance was also driven by decreasing Chinese tourists destined to Tuvalu by

40%, Cook Islands 27.9%, Timor Leste 23.6%, American Samoa 22% and PNG falling by 0.6%.

Meanwhile, Chinese tourists to Palau, the top destination for this source market rose by 6.6% to

13,663. Other destinations including Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga also witnessed

increasing Chinese arrivals during the Quarter. Compared to June quarter last year, Chinese tourist

to the region however, fell by 1.3%. This arises from the decline in Chinese arrivals to American

Samoa, Cook Islands and Palau over the period. The limited Chinese arrivals data for the quarter

for French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu also partly explained the deceleration.

Table R9: Chinese Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017


Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 105 91 71 -20 -34 -22.0 -32.4 0.2

Cook Islands 210 262 189 -73 -21 -27.9 -10.0 0.6

Fiji 10494 13460 11086 -2374 592 -17.6 5.6 34.3


Kiribati 0 19 23 4 23 21.1 0.1


New Caledonia 77 55 32* -23 -45 -41.8 -58.4 0.1

Palau 15987 12787 13633 846 -2354 6.6 -14.7 42.2

PNG 2459 2666 2651 -15 192 -0.6 7.8 8.2

Samoa 956 691 986 295 30 42.7 3.1 3.0

Solomon Islands 194 207 295 88 101 42.5 52.1 0.9

Timor Leste 0 2335 1784 -551 1784 -23.6 5.5

Tonga 340 321 356 35 16 10.9 4.7 1.1

Tuvalu 6 25 15 -10 9 -40.0 150.0 0.05

Vanuatu 660 956 530* -426 -130 -44.6 -19.7 1.6

Total 32768 36221 32337 -3884 -431 -10.7 -1.3 100.0

Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO. Data in red is SPTO estimates based on the average of the past four months




On market shares, the majority of the Chinese tourists visited Palau at 42.2% overtaking Fiji which

reduced to 34.3% share. PNG the third highest for Chinese market accounted for 8.2%, followed by

Timor Leste at 5.5%. The remaining 9.8% share was distributed among all the other regional

countries. Details are shown in Table R9 and Figure R9.

15

Figure R9: Destination Share (%) of the Chinese Market

Other Asia Market

Tourist Arrivals from Other Asia Market3 to the region strengthen further by 4.7% to 42,239

arrivals in the Second Quarter of 2017 following the strong growth in the previous quarter. The

outcome was boosted by increase in Other Asian tourists to American Samoa by 76.8%, Cook

Islands 40.1%, Samoa 20.6%, Fiji 15.2%, Timor Leste 8.6%, Solomon Islands 4.3% and Palau by

1.7%. This outweighed the fall in Other Asian tourist arrivals to Kiribati, PNG, Tonga and Tuvalu.

Compared to June quarter of 2016, Other Asian tourists to the region rose by 65.5% with Cook

Islands and Fiji showing the fastest growth by 38.3% and 21.1%, respectively.

On market shares, Timor Leste received the highest arrivals from the Other Asian Market by 37.5%

to 15,822 with Indonesia accounted for the majority of the shares due to its proximity. Fiji the

second highest received 20.7% overtaking PNG which was reduced to 19.5%. This followed by

Palau and Samoa with shares of 14.6% and 2.6% respectively. The remaining 5.1% was shared

among all the other destinations in the region. See Table R10 and Figure R10 for details.

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

American Samoa 0.2%

Cook Islands 0.6%

Fiji 34.3%

French Polynesia 2.1% Kiribati

0.1%

New Caledonia 0.1%

Palau 42.2%

PNG 8.2%

Samoa 3.0%


Timor Leste 5.5%

Tonga 1.1%

Tuvalu 0.0%

Vanuatu 1.6%

16

Table R10: Other Asia Market Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017


Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 218 125 221 96 3 76.8 1.4 0.5

Cook Islands 149 147 206 59 57 40.1 38.3 0.5

Fiji 7216 7586 8739 1153 1523 15.2 21.1 20.7


Kiribati 0 55 53 -2 53 -3.6 0.1


New Caledonia 533 522 231** -291 -302 -55.7 -56.7 0.5

Palau 6713 6076 6179 103 -534 1.7 -8.0 14.6

PNG 7388 8392 8217 -175 829 -2.1 11.2 19.5

Samoa 1153 894 1078 184 -75 20.6 -6.5 2.6

Solomon Islands 858 727 758 31 -100 4.3 -11.7 1.8

Timor Leste 0 14566 15822 1256 15822 8.6 37.5

Tonga 200 117 74 -43 -126 -36.8 -63.0 0.2

Tuvalu 73 75 69 -6 -4 -8.0 -5.5 0.2

Total 25515 40358 42239 1881 16724 4.7 65.5 100.0

Source: NTOs, NSOs and SPTO. Data in red is SPTO estimate based on the average of the past four months

Notes: Data for Nauru, Niue and FSM not available in all Quarters


*Partial data for April & May and ** for April

Figure R10: Destination Share (%) of Other Asia Market

American Samoa 0.5%

Cook Islands 0.5%

Fiji 20.7%


Kiribati 0.1%

New Caledonia 0.5%

Palau 14.6%

PNG 19.5%

Samoa 2.6%


Timor Leste 37.5%

Tonga 0.2%

Tuvalu 0.2%

17

Pacific Islands

Tourist arrivals within the Pacific region weakened further by 14.8% in the June Quarter to 30,229

following consecutive decline in the preceding two quarters. The deceleration against the prior

quarter was triggered mainly by the fall in other Pacific Islands arrivals to Fiji, the region‟s top

destination by 14.0% to 12,059. Other destinations witnessing a reduction in arrivals from other

Pacific Islands include Timor Leste falling by 33.3%, Palau 25.1%, Tuvalu 18.8%, Tonga 18.4%,

Cook Islands 4%, and Kiribati dropping by 3.9%. In contrast, arrivals within the Pacific Islands to

PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands and American Samoa increased over the quarter with the latter

showing the fastest growth by 42.2%. Compared to the corresponding quarter of 2016, tourist

arrivals within the Pacific Island countries fell slightly by 1.5%. The decline was associated with

the reduction in arrivals within the Pacific Islands to American Samoa, Palau, Tonga and Tuvalu

during the quarter.

Table R11: Pacific Islands Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017


Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 3184 2189 3113 924 -71 42.2 -2.2 10.3

Cook Islands 281 352 338 -14 57 -4.0 20.3 1.1

Fiji 11659 14028 12059 -1969 400 -14.0 3.4 39.9


Kiribati 252 281 270 -11 18 -3.9 7.1 0.9


New Caledonia 662 3279 1145** -2134 483 -65.1 73.0 3.8

Niue 73 80 n/a

Palau 153 195 146 -49 -7 -25.1 -4.6 0.5

PNG 1560 1605 1664 59 104 3.7 6.7 5.5

Samoa 5600 4718 5709 991 109 21.0 1.9 18.9

Solomon Islands 888 992 1133 141 245 14.2 27.6 3.7

Timor Leste 0 51 34 -17 34 -33.3 0.1

Tonga 989 581 474 -107 -515 -18.4 -52.1 1.6

Tuvalu 155 186 151 -35 -4 -18.8 -2.6 0.5

Vanuatu 3507 5199 3315* -1884 -192 -36.2 -5.5 11.0

Total 30691 35476 30229 -5247 -462 -14.8 -1.5 100.0




*Partial data for April & May, ** for April

With regards to market shares, Fiji continued to dominant this market with 39.9%, up from 38.9%

share witnessed in March Quarter. Samoa the second highest accounted for 18.9%, above the

18

13.3% share in the prior quarter. Vanuatu remained the third highest at 11% share although arrivals

from this market were only for April and May. This was followed closely by American Samoa at

10.3%. All other countries represented the remaining 20% share, of which PNG accounted for

5.5%. Table R11 and Figure R11 illustrate the details.

Figure R11: Destination Share (%) of Pacific Island Countries Market

Other Countries

In June Quarter of 2017, visitor arrivals elsewhere worldwide decelerated further by 15.2% to

10,825 following the 9.5% decline in the preceding quarter. The reduction was underlined by the

decline in tourist arrivals from Other Countries to American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga and

Timor Leste with the highest fall by 69.4%. The fall also partly reflected the limited arrival

numbers for French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu in the Second Quarter. Nevertheless,

arrivals from Other countries to Kiribati, Palau, PNG, Samoa and Solomon Islands registered

positive growth over the quarter. Against June Quarter last year, tourist arrivals from other

countries dropped by 2.3%. The fall was underlined by the reduction in Other Countries arrivals to

Kiribati, Palau, PNG and Tonga.

By market shares, Fiji remained dominant with 36.9% share of the total arrivals from Other

Countries worldwide. French Polynesia exclusive of June‟s monthly arrival numbers still

represented the second highest at 27.1% share. Cook Islands the third highest for Other Countries

represented 8.8% and PNG at 7.6%. All other countries accounted for the remaining 19.7% share

during the quarter. See Table R12 and Figure R12 for details.

American Samoa 10.3%

Cook Islands 1.1%

Fiji 39.9%


Kiribati 0.9%

New Caledonia

3.8%

Palau 0.5%

PNG 5.5%

Samoa 18.9%


Timo Leste 0.1%

Tonga 1.6%

Tuvalu 0.5%

Vanuatu 11.0%

19

Table R12: Other Countries Tourists by Destination and Share, Quarter 2, 2017


Q2 Q1[r] Q2[p] Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017/

Q1 2017

Q2 2017/

Q2 2016

Q2 2017

American Samoa 60 66 48 -18 -12 -27.3 -20.0 0.4

Cook Islands 452 1272 948 -324 496 -25.5 109.7 8.8

Fiji 3390 4169 3999 -170 609 -4.1 18.0 36.9


Kiribati 194 46 66 20 -128 43.5 -66.0 0.6


New Caledonia 363 515 179** -336 -184 -65.2 -50.7 1.7

Niue 12 9 n/a

Palau 588 197 415 218 -173 110.7 -29.4 3.8

PNG 943 787 818 31 -125 3.9 -13.3 7.6

Samoa 404 358 500 142 96 39.7 23.8 4.6

Solomon Islands 64 123 170 47 106 38.2 165.6 1.6

Timor Leste 0 792 242 -550 242 -69.4 2.2

Tonga 94 102 60 -42 -34 -41.2 -36.2 0.6

Tuvalu 19 8 45 37 26 462.5 136.8 0.4

Vanuatu 542 630 404* -226 -138 -35.9 -25.5 3.7

Total 11083 12763 10825 -1938 -258 -15.2 -2.3 100.0


Note: Data for Nauru and FSM not available in all Quarters

[r] revised, [n/a] not available, [r] provisional

*Partial data for April & May and ** for April

Figure R12: Destination Share (%) of Other Countries Market

.

American Samoa 0.4%

Cook Islands 8.8%

Fiji 36.9%


Kiribati 0.6%

New Caledonia 1.7%

Palau 3.8%

PNG 7.6%

Samoa 4.6%


Timor Leste 2.2%

Tonga 0.6%

Tuvalu 0.4%

Vanuatu 3.7%

20

4. Destination Analysis

In this section, only regional member countries that provided complete Quarter 2, 2017 data in time

were reported.

American Samoa

Tourist arrivals to American Samoa rebounded in the Second Quarter by 26.5% to 6,154 arrivals

after falling in the First Quarter of 2017. The solid performance reflected the additional special

flights by the Hawaii Airlines that boosted tourist arrivals during the quarter. Driving the strong

growth was the surge in arrivals from Other Asia rising by more than two fold, Europe by 94.1%,

Philippines 42.4% and other Pacific Islands growing by 42.2%. Growth was also driven by

increasing tourists from traditional source markets Australia, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom

and Japan. Compared to the second quarter of 2016, arrivals to American Samoa fell by 5.0% with

tourist arrivals from Canada showing the highest fall by 47.8%.

On market shares, tourists from other Pacific Islands accounted for the majority of the total tourist

arrivals to this destination at 53.3% to 3,113 in the second quarter. The share is higher than the

47.4% recorded in the first quarter. The second highest, of 1,135 tourists came from the USA and

this made up 19.4% of the market share. New Zealand tourists the third highest represented 14.9%

of the share, while all other countries accounted for the remaining 12.5% share. Details are shown

in Figure C1.

Figure C1: Tourist Arrivals in American Samoa by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: American Samoa Statistics Division, Dept. of Commerce

In terms of purpose of visit, visiting friends and relatives (VFR) remained by far the largest

segment of inbound visits to American Samoa at 57.7% and grew by 39.9% during the second

quarter. Tourist visiting for leisure purposes accounted for 27.7%, while, business tourists

accounted for 13.2% and 1.5% were for other purposes. However, the segments showed divergent

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA Canada UK Europe

Philippines

China JapanOtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2016 Q2 215 833 1395 23 32 97 103 105 15 115 3184 37 6154

2017 Q1 205 793 1050 23 23 68 59 91 12 66 2189 43 4622

2017 Q2 215 869 1135 12 24 132 84 71 17 137 3113 36 5845

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 4.9 9.6 8.1 -47.8 4.3 94.1 42.4 -22.0 41.7 107.6 42.2 -16.3 26.5

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 0.0 4.3 -18.6 -47.8 -25.0 36.1 -18.4 -32.4 13.3 19.1 -2.2 -2.7 -5.0

% share Q2 2017 3.7 14.9 19.4 0.2 0.4 2.3 1.4 1.2 0.3 2.3 53.3 0.6 100.0

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

-300

200

700

1200

1700

2200

2700

3200

3700

4200

4700

5200

5700

6200

%

Tou

rist

Arr

ival

s

21

growths against the previous quarter. Leisure tourists rose by 11.6% while business and other

purpose of visits fell by 9.6% and 38.8%, respectively. Against the June quarter of 2016, only

leisure tourists rose by 11.6% while VFR, business and „other‟ segments decline. Details are

illustrated in Figure C2.

Figure C2: Tourist Arrivals in America Samoa, by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: American Samoa Statistics Division, Dept. of Commerce

Cook Islands

Tourist arrivals to Cook Islands in the Second Quarter rose significantly by 47.7% to 42,335

reversing the weak performance in the First Quarter of 2017. The quick recovery was boosted by

surge in arrivals from the Cook Islands two leading markets, New Zealand and Australia. The

former rose by 78% to 29,664 arrivals arising from additional flights serving the route whiles the

latter increased by 40.7% to 6,292. Rising arrivals from other source markets including Other Asia

by 40.1%, Other Countries 39.6%, Japan 31.9%, and USA by 13.8% also attributed to the positive

outturn. Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, China and Pacific

Islands declined during the quarter. Compared to June quarter of 2016, arrivals to Cook Islands also

grew by 11.9% with Canada recording the highest growth by more than two fold. Growth also came

from Other Countries by 100%, Other Asia 38.3%, USA 29.3%, Pacific Islands 20.3%, Australia

10.7%, New Zealand 9.4%, Europe 5.3% and Japan rising by 1.7%.

In terms of market shares, New Zealand continued to be the dominant source market for this

destination and accounted for the majority of the shares at 70.1%, significantly higher than the

58.1% registered in the March quarter. The second highest Australia recorded shares of 14.9%,

followed by USA at 5.3% and Europe at 4.3%. All the other source markets accounted for the

remaining 5.5%. Details are illustrated in Figure C3.

Leisure VFR Business Others Total

2016 Quarter 2 1451 3444 1083 176 6154

2017 Quarter 1 1222 2409 852 139 4622

2017 Quarter 2 1620 3370 770 85 5845

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 32.6 39.9 -9.6 -38.8 26.5

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 11.6 -2.1 -28.9 -51.7 -5.0

% share Q2 2017 27.7 57.7 13.2 1.5 100.0

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Figure C3: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Cook Islands Statistics Office

By purpose of visit, all segments in the second quarter of 2017 registered positive growth as

opposed to the first quarter with business tourists recorded the fastest by more than two folds.

Leisure visitors rose by 49% while other purposes and VFR visitors grew by 40.1% and 4.1%,

respectively. Compared to the corresponding quarter of 2016, all segments also showed positive

growth with business tourists showing the highest increase by 12.2%. Disaggregating by shares,

leisure remains by far the largest segment with share of 87.3%, an improvement from 86.5% in the

previous quarter whilst „VFR recorded 5.8%, business 4.9% and „Other Purposes‟ with 2.0%.

Details are illustrated in Figure C4.

Figure C4: Tourist Arrivals in Cook Islands by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Cook Islands Statistics Office

Australia

NewZealand

USA Canada UK Europe China JapanOtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountri

esTotal

2016 Q2 5684 27112 1729 311 512 1731 210 118 149 281 141 37978

2017 Q 1 4473 16657 1973 1070 926 2508 262 91 147 352 202 28661

2017 Q2 6292 29664 2245 666 510 1823 189 120 206 338 282 42335

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 40.67 78.09 13.79 -37.76 -44.92 -27.31 -27.86 31.87 40.14 -3.98 39.60 47.71

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 10.70 9.41 29.84 114.15 -0.39 5.31 -10.00 1.69 38.26 20.28 100.00 11.47

% share Q2 2017 14.86 70.07 5.30 1.57 1.20 4.31 0.45 0.28 0.49 0.80 0.67 100.00

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2016 Quarter 2 33168 2186 1850 774 37978

2017 Quarter 1 24789 2350 904 618 28661

2017 Quarter 2 36946 2447 2076 866 42335

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 49.0 4.1 129.7 40.1 47.7

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 11.4 11.9 12.2 11.9 11.5

% Q2 2017 87.3 5.8 4.9 2.0 100.0

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Fiji

Tourist arrivals to Fiji rebounded strongly in the June quarter rising by 28.3% to 209,460 following

the consecutive decline in the past two quarters. Underpinning this solid growth was the marked

turnaround in Fiji‟s three leading markets, Australia, New Zealand and USA rising by 32.7%,

97.5% and 23.1%, respectively. Increasing arrivals from France by 22%, Other Asia 15.2%, Europe

3.5% and Canada by 1.7% also attributed to the favourable performance. The positive results

reflected the massive tourism promotional campaigns by the Fiji Tourism Industry, the joint

marketing efforts by the Fiji Airways and Tourism Fiji, the establishment of new market links,

increase in new air service arrangements and flight schedules and completion in upgrading of the

international airport in Nadi which boost arrivals during the quarter. Compared to the second

quarter of 2016, arrivals to Fiji rose by 9.3% driven by increase in arrivals from all the source

markets with the exception of United Kingdom and Other Countries.

On shares, Australia continued its dominance in the June quarter accounting for 43.8% share to

91,823 of the Fiji tourist arrivals, and above the 42.4% share in the previous quarter. New Zealand

being the traditional second largest market, recorded share of 22.4% to 46,859, a significant

improvement from the 14.5% share in the March quarter. USA the third highest market accounted

for 10.1% while Pacific Islands registered 5.8%. China represented 5.3% share, slowed from 8.2%

recorded in the March quarter. The remaining 12.7% was shared among all the other source

markets. Details are shown in Figure C5.

Figure C5: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Fiji Bureau of Statistics

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA Canada France UK Europe China Japan

OtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountrie

sTotal

2016 Q2 87977 39761 18439 2390 1216 4117 6089 10494 1282 7216 11659 1000 191640

2017 Q1 69220 23732 17139 2968 1152 4227 6746 13460 1767 7586 14028 1201 163226

2017 Q2 91823 46859 21091 3018 1405 4103 6981 11086 1315 8739 12059 981 209460

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 32.7 97.5 23.1 1.7 22.0 -2.9 3.5 -17.6 -25.6 15.2 -14.0 -18.3 28.3

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 4.4 17.9 14.4 26.3 15.5 -0.3 14.6 5.6 2.6 21.1 3.4 -1.9 9.3

% share Q2 2017 43.8 22.4 10.1 1.4 0.7 2.0 3.3 5.3 0.6 4.2 5.8 0.5 100.0

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Figure C6: Tourist Arrivals in Fiji, by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Fiji Bureau of Statistics

Disaggregating visitor arrivals by purpose of visit, leisure and VFR tourists grew strongly by 37.7%

and 23.3% respectively when compared to the previous quarter. Conversely, business and other

tourists dropped by 3.4% and 0.6%, respectively. Against the same quarter last year, all segments

showed positive growth except business tourists which remain almost the same level as in the

previous quarter. In terms of shares, leisure tourists continued to dominate arrivals into this

destination with 75.5% to 158,185 shares, higher than the 70.4% share seen in the previous quarter.

Tourists‟ visiting for „other purposes‟ and those visiting friends and relatives accounted for 9.3%

and 8.9% each while business tourists made up the remaining 6.3%. Details are shown in Figure

C6.

.

Kiribati

Tourist arrivals in Kiribati dropped further by 18.5% to 1,109 in the June quarter of 2017 following

two quarters of consecutive declines. The deceleration was partly due to reports of limited data

processing of visitor arrivals during the quarter. Consequently, this led to the fall in recording of

inbounds from majority of the countries except Other Countries, New Zealand and China which

rose by 43.5%, 24%, and 21.1% respectively. Tourist arrivals from Australia fell by 13%, USA

dropped by 41.1%, USA went down by 41.1%, Japan dipped by 23.5%, Other Asia slipped by 3.6%

and Pacific Islands falling by 3.9%. Against the same quarter of 2016, arrivals to this destination

also fell by 23.6% driven by decline in all the countries with the exception of other Pacific Islands

which rose by 7.1%.

On market shares, USA maintained its dominance this quarter with 28% of the total arrivals in

Kiribati. However, this was lower than the 38.7% share witnessed in the March quarter. Pacific

Islands, the second highest accounted for 24.3%, followed by Australia at 17%, New Zealand at


2016 Quarter 2 144759 16068 13193 17620 191640

2017 Quarter 1 114894 15107 13660 19565 163226

2017 Quarter 2 158185 18626 13196 19453 209460

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 37.7 23.3 -3.4 -0.6 28.3

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 9.3 15.9 0.0 10.4 9.3

% share Q2 2017 75.5 8.9 6.3 9.3 100.0

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8.4% and Other Countries at 6%. The remaining 16.4% was shared among all the other source

markets with Other Asia representing 4.8%. Figure C7 clearly illustrates the details.

Figure C7: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Kiribati National Tourism Office

Analysis by purpose of visit for Kiribati revealed that VFR, business and leisure against the

preceding quarter dropped by 68.7%, 15.5% and 4.4%, respectively while „other purposes‟ rose by

5,5%. Compared to the same quarter in 2016, leisure and other purposes of visit showed negative

growth while VFR and business segments rose by 36% and 0.7% respectively. In terms of shares,

majority of tourists to Kiribati in the June Quarter were leisure at 43.4%, overtaking business

tourists this quarter at 41.8% shares. Other purposes represented 8.7% of the total arrivals with the

remaining 6.1% to VFR. Details are shown in Figure C8.

Figure C8: Tourist Arrivals in Kiribati by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Kiribati National Tourism Office

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA UK Europe China Japan Other Asia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2016 Q2 280 203 377 45 55 0 46 0 252 194 1452

2017 Q1 216 75 526 37 54 19 51 55 281 46 1360

2017 Q2 188 93 310 27 40 23 39 53 270 66 1109

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 -13.0 24.0 -41.1 -27.0 -25.9 21.1 -23.5 -3.6 -3.9 43.5 -18.5

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 -32.9 -54.2 -17.8 -40.0 -27.3 0 -15.2 0 7.1 -66.0 -23.6

% share Q2 2017 17.0 8.4 28.0 2.4 3.6 2.1 3.5 4.8 24.3 6.0 100.0

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2016 Quarter 2 546 50 461 395 1452

2017 Quarter 1 503 217 549 91 1360

2017 Quarter 2 481 68 464 96 1109

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 -4.4 -68.7 -15.5 5.5 -18.5

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 -11.9 36.0 0.7 -75.7 -23.6

% share Q2 2017 43.4 6.1 41.8 8.7 100.0

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Palau

After bouncing back in the First Quarter, tourist arrivals to Palau slipped by 4.3% to 29,252 in the

Second Quarter. The deceleration stemmed from the reduction in flight schedules to Palau in the

June Quarter by 18% from the prior quarter. Consequently, arrivals from Japan, the second leading

market for this destination dropped by 25.3% as both scheduled and seasonal charter flights by

Japanese Airlines fell considerably by 25.1% during the quarter. The reduction in the flight

schedules also led to the decline in arrivals from Europe by 43.6%, Pacific Islands by 25.1%, South

Korea 6.1% and United Kingdom falling by 5.3%. Meanwhile, tourist arrivals from Australia, New

Zealand, USA, Taiwan, China, Other Asia and Other countries showed positive growth during the

June quarter. The continued rise in arrivals from China, Palau‟s leading market reflected the

significant increase in seasonal charter flights from Chinese Airlines by 27.6% during the quarter.

Against June quarter last year, arrivals to Palau also dropped by 7.6% with Taiwan showing the

highest fall by 35%. See Figure C9

Figure C9: Tourist Arrivals in Palau by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Palau Visitors Authority

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

In terms of shares, Asian markets remained dominant during the quarter due to their proximity to

Palau. China continued to be the leading market with 46.6% share to 13,635, an improvement from

the 41.8% share in the preceding quarter. The second largest market Japan accounted for 19.1%,

followed by South Korea at 10.6%, and Taiwan at 8.4%. The remaining 15.2% was shared amongst

all the other source markets with USA accounted for 7.1%. Details are clearly shown in Figure C9.

Papua New Guinea

Tourist arrivals in Papua New Guinea strengthened further in the June Quarter by 9.9% to 39,979

expanding the positive growth in the preceding quarter. The favourable performance was boosted

by solid growth in arrivals from Australia, the leading market for this destination by 26.2% to

20,568. Rising arrivals from Other Countries by 11.3%, New Zealand 10.0%, Philippines 4.2% and

Pacific Islands increasing by 3.7% also attributed to the positive outcome. The results were boosted

Australia NZ USA UK Europe China Japan TaiwanSouthKorea

OtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2016 Q2 257 0 2131 171 733 15987 4926 3803 2669 241 153 588 31659

2017 Q1 163 34 2031 150 1443 12787 7490 2266 3299 511 195 197 30566

2017 Q2 204 40 2084 142 814 13633 5595 2471 3098 610 146 415 29252

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 25.2 17.6 2.6 -5.3 -43.6 6.6 -25.3 9.0 -6.1 19.4 -25.1 110.7 -4.3

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 -20.6 0.0 -2.2 -17.0 11.1 -14.7 13.6 -35.0 16.1 153.1 -4.6 -29.4 -7.6

% share Q2 2017 0.7 0.1 7.1 0.5 2.8 46.6 19.1 8.4 10.6 2.1 0.5 1.4 100.0

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by the recent launching of Papua New Guinea new air service to Townsville in Australia that also

provided efficient international connection, a “one stop” to Asia connection. This pathway directly

linked other source markets such as Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Japan

and also the Pacific Island countries like Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands and the Federated State of

Micronesia. Against the corresponding quarter in 2016, tourist arrivals dropped by 9.4% with

United Kingdom and Other Countries showing the highest fall by 27.3% and 20.9% respectively.

On market shares, Australia continued to be the major source market for this destination and

accounted for more than half of the total tourists to PNG at 51.4%, up from the 44.8% share in

March Quarter. Other Asia, the second highest source market for PNG accounted for 10.6%,

Philippines 9.9% and China with 6.6%. New Zealand recorded share of 4.9% while Pacific Islands

and USA represented share of 4.2% and 3.8%, respectively. The remaining 8.5% was shared

amongst all the other source markets during the quarter. See Figure C10 for details.

Figure C10: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority

Analysis by purpose of visit reveals that all segments registered growth against the preceding

quarter except for „other purposes‟ which declined by 8.4%. Against the June quarter in 2016,

„Other Purposes‟ of visitor also dropped by 15.6% while VFR, business and leisure segments

increased with the latter showing the fastest growth by 38.3%. In terms of shares, business tourists

continued to dominate arrivals marking a share of 74.3% to 29,697. However, this was below the

78% share witnessed in the March Quarter. Leisure segment, the second highest represented 15.9%,

an improvement from 12.4% in the previous quarter while VFR and „Other Purposes‟ recorded

shares of 6.5% and 3.3% respectively. Details are clearly illustrated in Figure C11.

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA Canada UK Europe China Japan Philipines

OtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2016 Q2 24623 2220 1884 310 1017 1472 2459 547 3403 3985 1560 633 44113

2017 Q1 16297 1787 1567 337 767 1636 2666 881 3801 4591 1605 450 36385

2017 Q2 20568 1965 1520 317 739 1258 2651 579 3962 4255 1664 501 39979

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 26.2 10.0 -3.0 -5.9 -3.7 -23.1 -0.6 -34.3 4.2 -7.3 3.7 11.3 9.9

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 -16.5 -11.5 -19.3 2.3 -27.3 -14.5 7.8 5.9 16.4 6.8 6.7 -20.9 -9.4

% share Q2 2017 51.4 4.9 3.8 0.8 1.8 3.1 6.6 1.4 9.9 10.6 4.2 1.3 100.0

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Figure C11: Tourist Arrivals in Papua New Guinea by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Papua New Guinea Tourism Promotion Authority

Samoa

Tourist arrivals to Samoa bounced back in the June Quarter by 5.4% to 36,139, after falling by

23.5% to 34,300 in the March Quarter. The quick upturn against the preceding Quarter stemmed

from increasing arrivals in all the source markets except Japan and Other Asia which fell by 5% and

0.1%, respectively. Strong arrival growths were noted from Canada by 48.2%, United Kingdom

40.8%, Europe 31.1%, China 21.5% and USA with 17.5%. Positive growths were also noticeable

by arrivals from Other Countries, other Pacific Islands and from Samoa‟s two leading markets,

New Zealand and Australia. The positive results reflected the significant tourism promotional

campaigns by the Samoa Tourism Industry, increasing flight schedules and the hosting of the first

ever Super Rugby Championship Match that boost new visitors to Samoa during the quarter.

Figure C12: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Samoa Tourism Authority and Samoa Bureau of Statistics


2016 Quarter 2 4602 2045 27470 1580 35697

2017 Quarter 1 4501 2057 28371 1456 36385

2017 Quarter 2 6363 2585 29697 1334 39979

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 41.4 25.7 4.7 -8.4 9.9

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 38.3 26.4 8.1 -15.6 12.0

% share Q2 2017 15.9 6.5 74.3 3.3 100.0

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2016 Q2 7182 15144 3047 114 636 1178 956 162 1153 5600 290 35462

2017 Q1 7127 15424 2572 85 475 954 811 151 1080 5289 334 34300

2017 Q2 7195 15589 3021 126 668 1250 986 143 1078 5709 374 36139

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 1.0 1.1 17.5 48.2 40.8 31.1 21.5 -5.0 -0.1 7.9 12.1 5.4

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 0.2 2.9 -0.9 10.5 5.0 6.1 3.1 -11.7 -6.5 1.9 29.0 1.9

% share Q2 2017 19.9 43.1 8.4 0.3 1.8 3.5 2.7 0.4 3.0 15.8 1.0 100.0

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Against the June Quarter of 2016, tourist arrivals also increased by 1.9% with all source markets

trending upward except for USA, Japan and Other Asia. See Figure C12 for details.

Disaggregating by shares, New Zealand remains by far the largest source market for this destination

with 43.1% share to 15,589 of the total arrivals in the June Quarter. Australia, the second largest

source market accounted for 19.9% to 7,195 followed by other Pacific Islands at 15.8% and USA at

8.4%. The remaining 12.8% was shared amongst all the other markets during the Quarter.

Figure C13: Tourist Arrivals in Samoa by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Samoa Tourism Authority and Samoa Bureau of Statistics

By purpose of visit, compared to the preceding quarter, there was a healthy increase in business,

leisure and other purposes by 55.9%, 51.3% and 23.4% respectively, but a slight 7.5% fall in VFR.

Against the corresponding quarter in 2016, VFR and leisure tourists rose by 4.6% and 4.3% while

business and other purpose of visits dropped by 5.8% and 0.1%, respectively. On shares, leisure

tourists dominates this destination in the June Quarter at 38.5% to 13,909 followed by VFR at

30.7%, other purposes with 21.3% and business accounted for the remaining 9.5%. See Figure C13.

Solomon Islands

Tourist arrivals to Solomon Islands rebounded in the June Quarter by 31.6% to 6425, reversing the

29.2% fall in the previous Quarter. The quick turnaround reflected the increase in additional flight

schedules from the new air service arrangements with the Nauru Airlines that boost arrivals during

the Quarter. The new code share services between Air New Guinea and Air Vanuatu in which

Solomon Airlines also code share with Air New Guinea on this route also attributed to the positive

outcome. On drivers, significant rising arrivals were noticeable from all source markets except for

United Kingdom which dropped by 3.3% during the Quarter. Strong arrival growth were recorded

for USA by 90.3%, New Zealand 52.5%, Other Countries 47%, Australia 43.5%, China 42.5%,

Canada 20%, Japan 18.2%, other Pacific Islands 14.2%, Europe 12.7% and Other Asia with

moderate 4.3% increase over the Quarter. Compared to the corresponding Quarter last year, tourist


2016 Quarter 2 13339 10600 3661 7699 35299

2017 Quarter 1 9194 11994 2213 6232 29633

2017 Quarter 2 13909 11090 3450 7690 36139

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 51.3 -7.5 55.9 23.4 22.0

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 4.3 4.6 -5.8 -0.1 2.4

% share Q2 2017 38.5 30.7 9.5 21.3 100.0

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arrivals to Solomon Islands also grew by 13.1%. This was driven by increasing arrivals from all the

source markets for this destination except for Other Asia which waned by 11.7% during the period

Figure C14: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

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

On market shares, Australia remained by far the largest source market for Solomon Islands this

Quarter with share of 41.8%, up from 38.3% in the previous Quarter. Pacific Islands rallied in

second with 17.6%, followed by Other Asia at 11.8%, New Zealand at 7.1% and USA with 7.0%.

The remaining 14.6% was shared amongst all the other markets with China accounted for 4.6%.

Details are shown in Figure C14.

Figure C15: Tourist Arrivals in Solomon Islands by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

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

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA Canada UK Europe China Japan Other Asia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2016 Q2 2445 439 444 44 82 182 194 83 858 888 20 5679

2017 Q1 1867 301 237 40 92 181 207 154 727 992 83 4881

2017 Q2 2684 459 451 48 89 204 295 182 758 1133 122 6425

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 43.8 52.5 90.3 20.0 -3.3 12.7 42.5 18.2 4.3 14.2 47.0 31.6

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 9.8 4.6 1.6 9.1 8.5 12.1 52.1 119.3 -11.7 27.6 510.0 13.1

% share Q2 2017 41.8 7.1 7.0 0.7 1.4 3.2 4.6 2.8 11.8 17.6 1.9 100.0

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2016 Quarter 2 1831 808 1610 1430 5679

2017 Quarter 1 1375 800 1472 1234 4881

2017 Quarter 2 2111 1068 1795 1451 6425

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 53.5 33.5 21.9 17.6 31.6

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 15.3 32.2 11.5 1.5 13.1

% share Q2 2017 32.9 16.6 27.9 22.6 100.0

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In comparison to First Quarter of 2017, all segments in the Second Quarter registered solid growth

with leisure and VFR recording the highest increase by 53.5% and 33.5% respectively. Arrivals of

business tourists rose by 21.9% while ‟Other Purposes‟ increased by 17.6%. Compared to the

corresponding quarter last year, all segments recorded positive growth with VFR visitors showing

the fastest growth during the quarter. On shares, the leisure segment dominated arrivals at 32.9%,

overtaking the business segment which its share reduced to 27.9%. Visitors on VFR recorded share

of 16.6% while‟ Other Purposes accounted for 22.6% share. Details are illustrated in Figure C15.

Timor Leste

In June Quarter of 2017, Timor Leste received a total 25,697 arrivals to its shores. This represented

a slight fall of 1% against the revised 25,946 arrivals registered in the prior quarter. The decline was

driven by the reduction in arrivals from Other Countries by 69.4%, Japan 33.7%, other Pacific

Islands 33.3%, China 23.6%, New Zealand 22.6%, Australia 18.3%, Portugal 4.5% and Other Asia

falling by 0.1%. This outweighed the increase in arrivals to this destination from USA by 81.4%,

United Kingdom 31.3%, Europe 23.4%, and Indonesia rising by 10.1% during the quarter.

Figure C16: Tourist Arrivals in Timor Leste by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Timor Leste Ministry of Tourism

Note : Q2 2016 data by Major Source Markets and Q2 2017 data by purpose of visit not available.

On shares, majority of these visitors were from neighboring Indonesia marking a share of 50.9% to

13,092. Australia rallied in second with 3,274 arrivals and this made up 12.7% of the market share.

Arrivals from Other Asia, the third highest market this quarter represented 10.6%, followed by

Portugal at 7.6% and China with 6.9%. The remaining 11.2% was shared amongst all the other

source markets, of which USA and Europe accounted for 3.5% and 3.3%, respectively. Details

shown in Figure C16.

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA UK Europe China Japan Indonesia Portugal Other Asia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2017 Q1 4006 265 492 272 684 2335 445 11824 2038 2742 51 792 25946

2017 Q2 3274 205 894 357 844 1784 295 13092 1946 2730 34 242 25697

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 -18.3 -22.6 81.7 31.3 23.4 -23.6 -33.7 10.7 -4.5 -0.4 -33.3 -69.4 -1.0

% share Q2 2017 12.7 0.8 3.5 1.4 3.3 6.9 1.1 50.9 7.6 10.6 0.1 0.9 100.0

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Tonga

Tourist arrivals to Tonga rebounded in the June Quarter by 13% to 9,999, reversing the consecutive

declines in the preceding two quarters. The turnaround against the prior quarter was boosted by

solid growth in Tonga‟s three leading markets, New Zealand, Australia and USA. Tourist arrivals

from USA to Tonga surged by 63.7% to 1,809, Australian arrivals went up by 29.6% to 2,165 and

New Zealand arrivals strengthened by 7.8% to 4,542. Arrivals from China also grew by 10.9%

during the Quarter. Meanwhile, arrivals from Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, Other

Asia, Pacific Islands and Other Countries dropped in the June Quarter. Compared to the same

quarter in 2016, arrivals to this destination however, fell by 33.6% with Other Asia and Other

Countries showing the highest drop by 63.0% and 62.7%, respectively.

In terms of market shares, New Zealand continued its dominance at 45.5%. However, this was

below the 47.6% share in the March Quarter and the 50.1% share in the December Quarter of 2016.

The second highest Australia registered 21.7%, up from the 18.9% share in the previous quarter.

This was followed by USA at 18.1%, an improvement from the 12.5% in March Quarter and

Pacific Islands with share of 4.7%. The remaining 10.1% was shared amongst all the other source

markets with China accounting for 3.6%. Details are shown in Figure C17.

Figure C17: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Ministry of Tourism, Tonga

Analysis by purpose of visit reveals that leisure and business tourists showed positive growth

against the preceding quarter while VFR and „Other Purposes‟ fell by 8.9% and 14.8%,

respectively. Against the same quarter last year, „all segments registered declines with VFR

representing the highest fall by 48.7%. On shares, VFR tourists continued to dominate arrivals in

Tonga marking a share of 42.2%, however, this was below the 47.6% share in the previous quarter.

Leisure the second highest received 33% followed by business at 14.9% and 8.9%, respectively.

Details are clearly illustrated in Figure C18.

AustraliaNew

ZealandUSA Canada UK Europe Japan China

OtherAsia

PacificIslands

OtherCountries

Total

2016 Q2 3470 6952 2682 35 189 483 121 340 200 989 59 15520

2017 Q1 1670 4214 1105 60 138 414 185 321 117 581 42 8847

2017 Q2 2165 4542 1809 38 79 292 148 356 74 474 22 9999

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 29.6 7.8 63.7 -36.7 -42.8 -29.5 -20.0 10.9 -36.8 -18.4 -47.6 13.0

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 -37.6 -34.7 -32.6 8.6 -58.2 -39.5 22.3 4.7 -63.0 -52.1 -62.7 -35.6

% share Q2 2017 21.7 45.4 18.1 0.4 0.8 2.9 1.5 3.6 0.7 4.7 0.2 100.0

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Figure C18: Tourist Arrivals in Tonga by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Ministry of Tourism, Tonga

Tuvalu

In June Quarter, Tuvalu received 618 tourists, an increase of 5% from the 521 arrivals recorded in

March Quarter. The rebound against the preceding quarter was mainly due to the significant

increase in arrivals from Other Countries and Canada although from a much smaller base. Growth

in arrivals from Japan by 37%, Australia 30% and New Zealand by 20% also attributed to the

positive outturn. This outweighed the decline in arrivals from the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan,

China, Other Asia and other Pacific Islands during the quarter. Against the June quarter of 2016,

the decline in tourist arrivals to Tuvalu was dragged down by the drop in tourist arrivals from all

the source markets except for Canada, United Kingdom and Other Countries.

Figure C19: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Source Market, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Tuvalu Department of Tourism


2016 Quarter 2 4885 7493 1788 1354 15520

2017 Quarter 1 2918 4214 661 1054 8847

2017 Quarter 2 3003 3841 1354 898 9096

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 2.9 -8.9 104.8 -14.8 2.8

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 -38.5 -48.7 -24.3 -33.7 -41.4

% share Q2 2017 33.0 42.2 14.9 9.9 100.0

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Total

2016 Q2 103 99 43 1 11 59 6 50 73 155 18 618

2017 Q1 70 45 29 2 15 41 25 27 75 186 6 521

2017 Q2 91 54 39 13 14 30 15 37 69 151 32 545

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 30 20 34 550 -7 -27 -40 37 -8 -19 433 5

% change Q2 17/ Q2 16 -12 -45 -9 1200 27 -49 150 -26 -5 -3 78 -12

% share Q2 2017 17 10 7 2 3 6 3 7 13 28 6 100

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In terms of market shares, other Pacific Islands despite the decline in the second quarter accounted

for the majority of the arrivals at 28% to 151 share. However, this was lower than the 35.7% share

recorded in the first quarter this year. The second highest, of 91 tourists came from Australia and

this made up 17% of the market share. Arrivals from Other Asia, now the third highest market this

quarter represented 13%, followed by New Zealand at 10%, USA and Japan with 7% each and

Europe and Other Countries each at 6%. All other countries accounted for the remaining 7.7%

share of which United Kingdom and China represented 3% each. Details are shown in Figure C19.

Figure C20: Tourist Arrivals in Tuvalu by Purpose of Visit, Quarter 2, 2017

Source: Tuvalu Department of Tourism

By purpose of visit, Tuvalu does not capture VFR. This destination only captures leisure, business

and „other purposes „which showed divergent growth against the previous quarter. Tourist for

leisure and other purposes of visit rose by 24.1% and 37.1% respectively while business tourist

dropped by 6.0%. Against the same quarter last quarter, leisure and other purpose of visit segments

also showed positive growth whereas business tourists declined by 29.2%. Disaggregating by

shares, business tourists despite the fall continued to dominate arrivals with 56.6% during the

quarter. Leisure tourists, the second largest represented 30.7% of the total shares, an improvement

from the 26.3% share in the first quarter. Tourists visited for „other purposes‟ recorded shares of

12.7%, above the 9.8% witnessed in the preceding quarter. Details are illustrated in Figure C20.

Leisure Business Others Total

2016 Quarter 2 117 442 59 618

2017 Quarter 1 137 333 51 521

2017 Quarter 2 170 313 70 553

% change Q2 17/Q1 17 24.1 -6.0 37.3 6.1

% change Q2 17/Q2 16 45.3 -29.2 18.6 -10.5

% share Q2 2017 30.7 56.6 12.7 100.0

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http://www.southpacificislands.travel/

36

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’

quarterly review of tourist arrivals in pacific island … · 2017. 9. 17. · annual visitor...

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