“I am confident that the foreign tourist arrival target would be achieved or even exceeded,” declared Melson Miko, community and support services manager at the PVA.
Earlier, the PVA has set a target of 80, 000 tourist arrivals for 2010.
Miko said that his optimism over the foreign tourist arrivals was based on the fact that the arrivals for the first nine months of this year are near the 80, 000 level.
“There are more tourists coming here this year because of improving global economy. The peak season has not arrived, yet the target is nearly reached,” he stressed.
Based on data supplied by the PVA, 64, 702, tourists have visited the island republic from January to September of 2010.
Miko said that with the expected tourism arrival figures coming from the last three months of the year, which are peak months for the Palau tourism industry, the 80,000 target would be easily reached and even exceeded.
The official said an average of 7, 000 tourists visit Palau in the peak months of October, November and December.
“You add 21, 000 to the 64, 000 and you will get a figure that not only meets prior projection but higher than the target that we have set in the beginning of this year,” he pointed out.
Miko added that his optimism was also buoyed by the fact that another airline is set to service the air route to Palau.
Delta Airlines has announced that it will flying to Palau via Narita, Japan four times weekly starting December 24.
Delta Airlines has promised to bring in 25, 000 more visitors to Palau annually. The airline company will be utilizing a 182-seater Boeing 757 aircraft on the Narita-Palau route, it was learned.
“That would also mean more visitors going to Palau,” he said.
Miko said that his side would never stop carrying out promotion in a number of countries which became the focus of tourism market.
“We will continue and even intensify the promotion of different Palau tourist sites in countries that have patronized our tourism industry,” he declared.
Japan is the number one customer of the Palau tourism industry, followed by Republic of China, South Korea and United States.
So far, based on PVA records, were 21, 124 Japanese 17, 785 Taiwanese, 11, 626 Koreans, and 6, 790 American visitors to the island republic in the first three quarters of 2010.
Palau’s main industry and one of its biggest sources of revenues is tourism.
Palau’s unspoiled natural wonders offer some of the world’s best diving and snorkeling, and make Palau an increasingly popular destination for upscale travelers interested in marine ecotourism.
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