An international visitor survey of Vanuatu shows tourists spent $US145 million there last year, up 9 percent on 2015.
Photo: Supplied
The survey, undertaken by the New Zealand Tourism Research Institute at Auckland University, measures travel patterns, behaviours, and spending by Vanuatu's international visitors arriving by air.
The survey has been done with the help of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation.
The IFC Pacific manager, Tom Jacobs, said the survey, now in its second year, provides year-on-year data that can be used to inform tourism development.
He said it was excellent to note a 6-percent increase in arrivals, and the survey shows visitors are also spending more per person.
The survey also showed the importance of Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia to Vanuatu's tourism sector, with visitors from these countries comprising 74 percent of all tourist arrivals.