The Asian Development Bank wants Solomon Islands to pursue tourism to sustain economic growth.
View towards Point Cruz and the Port of Honiara. Photo: RNZI/Koroi Hawkins
In a report on the Solomons it said tourism was an untapped source of growth and could be vital as logging and the inflow of spending associated with the Regional Assistance Mission decline.
The ADB said the Solomons economy was expected to grow by 3 percent this year and 2.8 percent in 2018.
The senior economist at the ADB's Pacific Liaison and Co-ordination Office, Roland Rajah, said growth had been broadly steady, but in the absence of more sustainable drivers, it will slow over the medium term.
The report said new economic drivers were urgently needed to replace logging and external assistance - both of which are expected to decline over the medium term.
The bank said tourism offered a new driver for growth, as Solomon Islands was widely considered to have world class tourism potential.
It said the continued implementation of the government's tourism strategy should help to unlock the country's tourism potential.