BY LYNTON AARON FILIA
INTERNATIONAL arrivals to Solomon Islands have decreased by 28.5 percent for the first quarter of 2018, compared to the 4th Quarter of 2017, a statistic shows.
A report from the Solomon Islands National Statistic Office revealed total arrivals for the first quarter 2018 were 11,593.
However, this is a 15.6 percent increase to the first quarter of last year, which is a marked improvement.
54 percent of total arrivals were visitors, 45 percent returning residents and the remaining one percent intending residents.
The 6,296 visitors is an 11.6 percent decrease to last year’s fourth quarter tally which recorded 7,122 visitors.
And, this year’s visitors superseded last year’s record of first quarter visitors by 29 percent.
Country of Residence Arrivals for the first quarter of 2018 showed that Australians remain the largest group of visitors to the Solomon Islands with 34.9 percent.
The next largest groups were from other Asia with 15.1 percent, followed by Fiji 7.2 percent, other Pacific 6.5 percent, Papua New Guinea 6.2 percent, New Zealand 5.7 percent and the United States of America 5.1 percent.
Visitors by Month for International arrivals showed that March recorded the highest number of arrivals in the first quarter of 2018 with 2,360 visitors.
Following that was January with a total of 2,081 visitors and February which was the least to recorded 1,855 visitors.
In terms of Tourists, 1,941 tourists arrived in first quarter of 2018 and they spent an average of 15.5 days in the country.
Australian residents still made up the highest proportion of tourists accounts to 38.7 percent for the quarter and stayed in the country for an average of 11 days.
Residents from other Asians made up the next largest group of tourists with 11.5 percent, followed by United States of America (8.6 percent, other Pacific 6.3 percent, China 5.3 percent, Papua New Guinea, Japan and Other Europe, 4.2 percent.
