Solomon Islands Q2 visitor numbers best since 2019: Australian visitors up 26 percent – PNG visitors up 106 percent

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Tourism Solomons is celebrating its strongest second-quarter performance in over four years, with visitor arrival figures for January to June 2024 showing a remarkable 26.5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2023.

According to data released by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO), 11,333 international travelers visited the Solomon Islands during the six months, surpassing the 8,957 visitors recorded in Q2 2023.

These 2024 figures mark the best results since the record-breaking second quarter of 2019 when the destination welcomed 12,742 international visitors.

Australian visitors continued to lead, with a 7.2 percent increase from 3,490 in 2023 to 3,743 in 2024, making up 33 percent of the total arrivals.

Other key markets also showed positive growth, with visitor numbers from the US up by 13.2 percent, Fiji up by 23.6 percent, and New Zealand showing a 30 percent increase.

The most significant growth, however, came from Papua New Guinea, where visitor numbers more than doubled, rising from 572 in 2023 to 1,172 in 2024, representing a 106.7 percent increase.

Commenting on the Q2 result, Tourism Solomons CEO (acting), Dagnal Dereveke said the national tourist office’s concerted marketing efforts were paying dividends.

“While much of our international marketing activity has been concentrated on the traditionally strong Australian and New Zealand markets, our efforts in PNG are bearing fruit,” Mr Dereveke said.

“We know, like Fiji, much of our visitation from those countries is business-oriented.”

“These consistent increases present a strong opportunity for Tourism Solomons to further expand its activities in both the Fiji and PNG markets and highlights the potential for our domestic operators to tap into these markets by targeting travellers coming for business.

“With large numbers of Fijian and PNG citizens based in Honiara, the VFR (visiting friends and relatives) element from both countries also offers great potential for our local industry.”

Media Release | Distributed on behalf of Tourism Solomons by Mike Parker-Brown

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