Total visitor arrivals for March quarter 2008 decreased by 25.4% (18,700)
when compared to December quarter 2007 (25,065) but showed a slight increase of 0.3% when compared to March
Quarter 2007 (18,635).
Of the 18,700 visitors, New Zealand was the most dominant market with 48.0% followed by Europe and Australia with
26.6% and 11.5% respectively.
People arriving for vacation purposes contributed 81.9% of the total visitors arrivals and
11.0% came to visit their friends and relatives, while 7.1% had other reasons for visiting our shores.
12,633 (67.6%) of the visitor arrivals were accommodated in hotels and motels. Those persons staying in private
accommodation (15.5%) generally represent visiting Cook Islanders who normally reside overseas and also other
visitors who find it convenient to rent private houses.
Room occupancy rate for March quarter 2008 was 51.3%. Occupancy rate in all establishments decreased by 3.1 points
when compared to the previous quarter.
Bed occupancy rate for March quarter 2008 was 43.9%, a decrease of 3.8 points when compared to
the previous quarter but showed an increase of 0.7 points when compared to March Quarter 2007.