Source: July 2011 Visitor Arrival Report

APIA: 09 Nov 2011: There is a healthy growth in short term overseas visitor arrivals to Samoa according to  information from the arrival cards in July.

The short term overseas visitor arrivals that month numbered 14,261 representing a healthy growth of 10.1% compared to July 2010 (12,958). Several factors contributed to the rise in the number of arrivals for the period under review, such as the significant increases in Visiting Friends and Relatives and Business traffic due to the various conferences and meetings that took place throughout the month.

Purpose of Travel
While holiday travel declined overall, the number of holiday-makers from Australia grew by almost 26% compared to the same period last year. On the whole, the Holiday made up 37% of total traffic. VFR remained strong with a 43% share and an increase of 46% for the period under re-view. Business and Sports travelers both increased by 44% and 229% respectively while Other Purposes of Travel declined by 35%. VFR and Business grew on the back of several international conferences and church meetings which took place during July.

Market
Performance during the month showed that Australia continued to grow with a significant 30% increase followed by American Samoa with a 25% rise. Other markets which showed growth include the USA, Other Pacific Islands, Fiji, Germany, Japan and China. The New Zealand market declined marginally by 2% but still recorded the largest share with 42% of total visitor arrivals. The UK and Other European markets also declined.

Mode of Arrival
Polynesian Blue brought in 34% of the total traffic followed by Air New Zealand at 28% and Air Pacific at 8%. Inter Island and Polynesian Airlines which operates flights from American Samoa contributed 13% and 14% respectively. Inter-island ferry, Lady Naomi brought in about 1% of the total traffic. Approximately 98% of the total traffic used air carriers, with the remaining 2% utilising ocean transport.

Summary
The overall increase in July can be attributed to increases in traffic mainly from Australia and American Samoa and in terms of purpose of travel, Visiting Friends and Relatives, Business and Sports all grew strongly in July.