Pacific tourism numbers up

There was a surge in tourist numbers into the Pacific in the first quarter of this year.

In figures just made available by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation, nearly 381 thousand visited for the months of January through March.

The best performing markets were Fiji and Palau, with Palau benefitting from direct flights from China.

Several countries had a drop in numbers - the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

Australian tourists dominated the markets while Chinese tourism was up by two and a half times with the bulk of Chinese tourists going to Palau.