International visitor arrivals to the Solomon Islands show double digit growth for the period January to September 2025.
New figures released by the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO) show a total of 20,466 arrivals for the period, a 12.1 percent increase over the 18,252 figure recorded for Q3 2024.
Australian numbers, which represent 29.2 of all arrivals, rose to 5977 for the period, on par with the 5978 achieved in 2024.
New Zealand visitor numbers achieved the biggest growth for the period, increasing by 12.6 percent from 1257 to 1415.
Arrivals from Fiji also edged higher, increasing by 3.1 percent while declines were recorded from Papua New Guinea and the United States, 16.6 and 3.3 percent, respectively.
Numbers for Q4 are also looking strong with international conferences, including the 2025 Pacific Labour Mobility AGM and Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER) Joint Committee Meeting and Ministerial Meetings, taking place in Honiara in November.
Commenting on the result, Tourism Solomons CEO (Acting), Dagnal Dereveke attributed the result to sustained marketing activity in the destination’s core leisure markets which continues to deliver results.
“The new data confirms international interest in the Solomon Islands is rebuilding strongly and very much in line with our strategic growth targets,” he said.
“Our stays fixed on rebuilding and growing visitor arrivals from our key source markets. The Q3 results show clear progress towards returning to and exceeding pre-COVID levels.”