Solomon Islands tourism is back on track, according to SINSO

Traditional house in Solomon Islands in the mountains a beautiful summer afternoon.
By James Harrison


Just three months after the Solomon Islands reopened its border on 01 July after an 800-day lockdown, official visitor arrival numbers for Q3 2022 show the destination has got off to a far better than expected result.

The figures, released by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO), show a total of 2481 international visitors travelled to the destination between 01 July and 30 September 2022.

Once again Australians made up the bulk of the numbers with the 1038 figure recorded comprising 41.8 per cent of the total intake for the period.

Tourism Solomon’s acting CEO & head of corporate services, Dagnal Dereveke said he was sure some might see the 2481 total number as representing a drop of almost 68 per cent.

“But when you look at our VA count which we started from ZERO on 01 July, 2022, this is a fantastic outcome for the country’s tourism sector, what you might call a real ‘glass half full’ scenario,” Dereveke said.

Dereveke said visitor arrivals from the Solomon Islands other key source markets – the US, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji – while still slow, had shown month on month improvement across the quarter.

Prior to the pandemic, the Solomon Islands was hosting some 29,000 international visitors annually with Australian traffic constituting around 45 per cent of the total and total visitation growth annually ranging between 7-10 per cent.

“Our primary focus is to regain those Australian numbers as quickly as possible,” Dereveke said.

“We know we have a long way to go before we regain our pre-COVID numbers.

“But we are very cautiously confident and with continuing effort, good marketing and profile rebuild we can get back to where we were before the pandemic in relatively short time.”

Latest News

  • Appointments
  • Hotels

Kerzner International announce key leadership appointments

Kerzner International has announced two significant leadership appointments as part of a brand-new management structure designed to position the company for continued growth and success. Brand verticals Kerzner is renowned for creating pioneering brands from the larger-than-life Atlantis to the ultra-luxury One&Only Resorts, and recently an industry-first with the launch of SIRO, the ultimate fitness […]

  • Hotels

Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour welcomes Santa Clause

Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour has welcomed Santa Clause to bring early Christmas presents to the children of the Royal Far West Charity. Royal Far West is one of the charities supported by hotel owner, Dr. Jerry Schwartz, who organised for high-rise window cleaning entrepreneur Edvaldo Godoy of Updown Access to “sleigh” down the face of […]

  • Travel Agents

Digital marketer says travel operators are missing out on free cash

Travel operators are missing out on free cash for marketing, says Sam Patton, founder of The Social Spider, Australia’s first digital marketing agency dedicated to the travel sector. Some savvy travel companies are successful in accessing “magical” marketing funds from government and private sources but many were unaware of available cash or unwilling to spend the […]

  • Food & Beverage
  • Hotels

Banyan Tree offers special Christmas dining options

Banyan Tree has announced a host of 5-star gourmet Christmas and New Year dining experiences for each of its restaurants across the festive season. Here’s a selection: Banyan Tree Krabi Gala Dinner The Banyan Tree Krabi is hosting a sumptuous Christmas Eve Gala Dinner at its popular restaurant, The Naga Kitchen. Guests can enjoy an […]