Richard Sanders, Staff Writer, Honiara
The total International Arrivals for the third quarter of 2024 was 13,966, an increase of 11.5% compared to the previous quarter (2nd quarter 2024).
The Solomon Islands National Statistics Office released the latest report on Tuesday 24th December 2024.
According to the report, the number of total arrivals significantly increased to 28.2% compared to the same quarter a year ago. There is expected to be a huge increase in visitors from China this year because of the new visa free policy for Chinese citizens, this will boost the economy in 2025.
Returning residents comprised the largest entrances comprising of 50.1% of all arrivals for the third quarter of 2024. Visitors recorded 49.4% of all arrivals, and the remaining less than 1.0% were intending residents.
Visitor arrivals for the third quarter increased by 7.1% to 6,903 visitors, compared to the second quarter 2024 figure of 6,446 visitors. From the third quarter of 2023 to the third quarter of 2024, visitor arrivals increased by 22.7% in visitor arrivals.
Arrivals by country of residence for the third quarter of 2024 showed that visitors from Australia comprised the largest (32.4%) group of visitors to the Solomon Islands. This was a decrease of 0.7% in arrivals representing 2,234 Australian visitors in the third quarter compared to the second quarter of 2024 figure of 2,250.
The next largest group of visitors was from the United States of America (11.2%) followed by Other Asian Countries (9.1%), China (8.9%), Fiji (7.5%), New Zealand (7.3%), Papua New Guinea (6.9%), Other European Countries (4.4%), Vanuatu (3.3%), Other Pacific Countries (2.8%), Japan (2.3%), United Kingdom (1.7%), Other Countries (1.5%), and less than 1% for Canada and Germany.
Visitor arrivals by month showed that August recorded the highest number of visitors in the third quarter of 2024 with 2,504 visitors. This was followed by July with 2,230 visitors and September the least with 2,169 visitors.
The third quarter of 2024 recorded 2,471 tourists, out of which 2,186 tourists reported having a holiday and vacation as their purpose of travel. Tourists spent an average of 11 days in the country. Australia made up the highest proportion of tourists (32.5%) during the quarter.
The most common reason for visitors visiting the Solomon Islands during the quarter was for Holiday and Vacation (31.7%). This was followed by Other Reasons (26.4%), Business and Conference (24.9%), Visit Friends or Relatives (12.8%), and 4.1% for Transit and Stopover.
The distribution of visitor arrivals by broad age groups for the third quarter of 2024 showed that 75.3% of visitors were in the 25 years to 64-year-old age range. The youngest age group, 0-24 years, comprised 9.3%, and the oldest age group, 65 years and over, represented 10.6% of total visitor arrivals. The remaining 4.8% were visitors who did not state their age. In addition, male visitors represented more than half of the total visitor arrivals (67.7%), with female visitors making up 32.3% of all arrivals during the quarter.
Visitors by Occupation showed that the “Professional and Technical” category comprised the largest percentage of occupations (36.1%) during the quarter. This was followed by Administration and Managerial (17.3%), Not Working (13.8%), Other Occupation (7.5%), Student (7.0%), Production and Related Work (6.4%), Service Worker (5.7%), Sales Worker (2.9%), Clerical and related work (1.8%), and Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (1.3%). The remaining 0.1% of visitors did not state their occupation. Males outnumbered females in all arrivals of visitors by occupations from professional to agricultural forestry and fishery.
The most popular carriers during the quarter were Solomon Airlines which carried (38.1%) of total visitors, followed by Air Niugini (28.9%), Qantas (21.7%), Fiji Airways (7.2%), and Unscheduled Flights (4.1%).
Brisbane-Munda flights commenced its weekly schedule in February 2024. There were 395 recorded arrivals by country of residence to Munda for the third quarter. Australians (78.9%) recorded the largest group of visitors, followed by the United States (6.6%), Other Europe (5.3%), New Zealand (5.1%), United Kingdom (1.5%), and Other Asia (1.0%). Visitor arrivals less than 1% were from Canada, Other Pacific Countries, and Other Countries.
理查德·桑德斯，驻霍尼亚拉记者
2024年第三季度的国际到达总人数为13,966人，与2024年第二季度相比增长了11.5%。
所罗门群岛国家统计局于2024年12月24日（星期二）发布了最新报告。
根据报告，总到达人数与去年同期相比显著增加了28.2%。预计由于新的中国公民免签政策，今年来自中国的游客将大幅增加，这将推动2025年的经济增长。
返乡居民占2024年第三季度所有到达人数的最大部分，占50.1%。游客占所有到达人数的49.4%，其余不到1.0%为计划定居的居民。
第三季度的游客到达人数比2024年第二季度的6,446人增加了7.1%，达到6,903人。2023年第三季度到2024年第三季度，游客到达人数增加了22.7%。
2024年第三季度按居住国划分的到达人数显示，来自澳大利亚的游客占所罗门群岛游客的最大比例（32.4%）。与2024年第二季度的2,250人相比，第三季度的澳大利亚游客人数减少了0.7%，为2,234人。
第二大游客群体来自美国（11.2%），其次是其他亚洲国家（9.1%）、中国（8.9%）、斐济（7.5%）、新西兰（7.3%）、巴布亚新几内亚（6.9%）、其他欧洲国家（4.4%）、瓦努阿图（3.3%）、其他太平洋国家（2.8%）、日本（2.3%）、英国（1.7%）、其他国家（1.5%），加拿大和德国的游客人数均不到1%。
按月份划分，2024年第三季度的游客到达人数中，8月份的游客人数最高，为2,504人。其次是7月份的2,230人，而9月份的游客人数最少，仅为2,169人。
2024年第三季度记录了2,471名游客，其中2,186名游客表示旅行的目的是度假和休闲。游客在该国平均停留11天。澳大利亚游客在该季度占游客的最高比例（32.5%）。
在该季度，访问所罗门群岛的游客最常见的原因是度假和休闲（31.7%）。其次是其他原因（26.4%）、商务和会议（24.9%）、探访朋友或亲属（12.8%），以及过境和中途停留（4.1%）。
2024年第三季度游客到达人数按年龄分布显示，75.3%的游客年龄在25岁到64岁之间。最年轻的年龄组（0-24岁）占9.3%，而65岁及以上的老年组占总到达人数的10.6%。其余4.8%的游客未说明年龄。此外，男性游客占总到达人数的超过一半（67.7%），女性游客占该季度所有到达人数的32.3%。
按职业划分的游客显示，“专业和技术”类别在该季度占据了最大的职业比例（36.1%）。其次是行政和管理（17.3%）、未就业（13.8%）、其他职业（7.5%）、学生（7.0%）、生产及相关工作（6.4%）、服务工作者（5.7%）、销售工作者（2.9%）、文书及相关工作（1.8%）、以及农业、林业和渔业（1.3%）。其余0.1%的游客未说明职业。在所有职业的游客中，男性人数超过女性。
该季度最受欢迎的航空公司是所罗门航空，占总游客的38.1%，其次是尼乌几尼航空（28.9%）、澳洲航空（21.7%）、斐济航空（7.2%）和不定期航班（4.1%）。
布里斯班-蒙达航班于2024年2月开始每周运行。第三季度记录到的到达蒙达的游客人数为395人，按居住国划分，澳大利亚游客（78.9%）占最大比例，其次是美国（6.6%）、其他欧洲（5.3%）、新西兰（5.1%）、英国（1.5%）和其他亚洲（1.0%）。来自加拿大、其他太平洋国家和其他国家的游客人数均不到1%。
