BY LYNTON AARON FILIA
AN increase of 70 percent has been recorded for international visitor arrivals into Solomon Islands in the last quarter of 2017, it is reported.
National Statistics Office data shows that international travelers into Solomon Islands is 67.8 percent more than the 1,428 recorded for the same period in 2016.
With this impressive increase, the Solomon Islands Visitors Bureau’s CEO, Mr Josefa Jo Tuamoto described it as ‘gone off the Richter Scale’ – which shows Solomon Islands continues to shine in tourism destination.
Speaking in the Global Travel Industry News, Tuamoto said the figure symbolizes the country’s biggest-ever monthly intake since SINSO first started recording international arrival figures in 1990.
“This truly represents a watershed moment for the Solomon Islands and keeps us bang on target for a very strong finish to 2017,” Tuamoto said.
Meanwhile, last year international visitors show Australians dominated with 7,317 total recorded for September representing a 7.41 percent increase of the 6,812 recorded in 2016 and accounting for 37.2 percent of all arrivals.
Second on the list is New Zealand arrivals which jumped from 1,136 to 1,286 with an increase of 13.2 percent especially during the All Whites FIFA World Cup clash with the Solomon Islands at Honiara’s Lawson Tama Stadium.
US numbers too improved with an increasing 9.11 percent from 1,152 to 1,257 while Papua New Guinea and Fiji visitation numbers also increased, by 8.67 and 6.7 percent, respectively.
