Total visitors to Samoa for the quarter under review grew by 11% compared to the same period last year with 11.7% growth rate recorded for the first half of the year.
Based on growth to date, it is projected that total visitor arrivals will exceed the 150,000 mark in 2016.
Samoa’s Holiday and VFR markets which make up 68% of visitors for the Quarter continue to perform strongly recording growths of 11% and 15% respectively.
The Business and Sports category also recorded solid growths with the exception of the ‘Others’ category remained stagnant for the period.
New Zealand continues to be Samoa’s biggest market and now contributes 43% of our visitor arrivals achieving net growth of 3% for the quarter when compared to 2015.
The Australian market also recorded growth of 10% which is pleasing given the increased marketing campaigns conducted within this particular market while the American Samoa market bucks its declining trend by recording growth of 19% largely attributed to the village groups that attended Samoa’s Independence celebrations.
The USA market continues its resurgence achieving excellent growth of 14% while “Others” category driven by growing numbers from our European and Asian markets recorded the biggest overall growth at 30%.
Quarterly Earnings recorded an overall increase of 13.76% which is slightly higher than the increase in overall arrivals and the difference is mainly attributed to the increase in arrivals from European and Asian markets which traditionally have a higher spending average overall compared to the primary markets.
Occupancy Rates mirrors visitors accommodation of choice declared on their arrival cards and this quarter is no different with increases in occupancy by Samoa’s Deluxe and Budget categories coming at the expense of the Superior category which recorded a decline in average rate.
Photo: SPTO