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PACIFIC ISLANDS REPORT Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center COOK ISLANDS TOURISM SHOWS MARKET SHIFT By Ulamila Kurai Wragg RAROTONGA, Cook Islands (Cook Islands News, April 29, 2008) - Recent statistics released by the finance ministry show that while visitor arrivals from the northern hemisphere continued to decline in the 12 months to March this year, there was still a 3.2 percent increase in total visitors in the period. The figures showed that the increases were significant in markets such as New Zealand (13.8 percent), Canada (5.2 percent), Australia (2.8 percent) and French Polynesia (23.1 percent). "The Cook Islands’ economy relies heavily on the tourism industry to generate much needed revenue," the ministry said in its monthly update for March. "We are not immune to the effects of the global crisis as it will impact not only on the number of visitors arriving on our shores, but also the amount of available funds each visitor has to spend during their stay. Visitor arrivals per month are down when compared to the same month in the previous year. This is to be expected due to the downturn in the US and Europe. The Cook Islands’ other tourism markets, New Zealand and Australia, are showing signs of an economic downturn, although not as severe as in the northern hemisphere." The update says that although there is expected to be a recession in the US, there is only a one in four chance of that becoming global. For this reason, the ministry is saying that it is difficult at this stage to gauge the effect of any global downturn on the local economy. Although there are signs of an economic downturn in the country’s biggest market New Zealand, its Reserve Bank governor has indicated that there is no need to overreact stating that "the New Zealand economy remains fundamentally sound and creditworthy." Cook Islands News: http://www.cinews.co.ck/index.htm |
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