By Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

The Palau Visitors Authority is aiming at promoting Palau as a high-end tourist destination.
On Tuesday’s Palau Chamber of Commerce meeting held at the Palau Pacific Resort , Yumi Morishita, PVA’s Marketing and Research Manager said that Palau wants high quality travelers who will stay in the country for a short period but are willing to spend more.
Earlier President Remengesau said that the country's tourism planning should focus on attracting high-end tourists.
Darin De Leon, PVA’s Managing Director said the thrust of PVA is to move away out of the tour packages and instead market Palau as a high end destination.
Travelers who prefer tour packages spend less that those high-paying tourists.
The PVA said during the chamber meeting said that aside from water activities, tourists can also enjoy land tours.
According to the November 2006 visitor arrivals, there were 5,590 arrivals compared to the November 2005 tourist arrivals of 5,206.
According to the statistics, the Taiwan market still topped Palau’s visitors arrival, with Japan coming in on second followed by Korean tourists.
The PVA said the most viable market of travelers are the markets from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, North America, Europe and the Philippines.