The November issue of Pacific Economic Monitor, a quarterly economic review of 14 Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste, noted that the number of Australian tourists to the region in July and August increased by 16.1 percent year-on-year, a sharp rise after modest gains in April and May.
The number of New Zealand tourists visiting the Pacific also climbed in August, to 2.6 percent, after eight consecutive months of contraction.
The Monitor described the tourist figures, together with a price rise in tree crops such as cocoa and palm oil, as “positive news for the Pacific” and an indication of a recovering global economy.
The report also notes that Samoa, which was hit by a tsunami last month, is coping better than expected with the impact of the disaster because of financial support provided by Samoans living overseas and the broader international community.
Rehabilitation efforts may now see a small economic expansion in 2010.
However, the report warns against complacency in the region, saying that improvements in the global economy will be gradual and will take time to fully flow through to the Pacific.
“Notably, unemployment is still on the rise in the Pacific’s key neighboring economies, and this will delay prospects for a much-needed turnaround in remittances,” the report said.
