Polynesia welcomed 12,250 tourists in the second quarter of 2021. This is 47,000 less than the same period in 2019, according to the latest figures from the Institute of Statistics. However, these same figures focus only on tourist attendance for May and June 2021, as the fenua had closed its borders from February due to the epidemic.
In May 2021, it was mainly the international hotel industry that benefited from the arrival of North American tourists – who represented two thirds of the workforce. The small hotel industry and the furnished AirBnb type tourism must wait for metropolitan customers in June to resume some economic activity.
Longer stays
In total, between July 2020 and June 2021, a little more than 57,000 tourists came to the fenua, or 65.1% less than between July 2019 and June 2020. However, their stays are longer, with a duration average of 7 days more than in 2019.
Because if Americans are only staying 0.7 days more than before the crisis – i.e. 11.5 days -, it is the mainland (+19.2 days compared to 2019) and European (+21.7 days) markets. compared to 2019) which increase the figures by remaining on average 44.8 days and 36.5 days. Stays for professional or family reasons, which are longer than leisure stays, are the cause of this increase.
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Few cruise passengers
Of the 12,267 tourists registered in the second quarter of 2021, only 1,556 take cruises, only intra-Polynesian, transpacific cruises having been stopped for a year. Yachting remains the preferred form of accommodation, with yachters alone representing 85% of the floating clientele.
39.5% local tourists
As a result of the border closures and probably the introduction of Titeti ai’a coupons, Polynesians are fond of the islands in May and June 2021. Sales to local customers even obtain their best result since 2012, with 21 000 rooms sold during the quarter. The locals favor establishments in Tahiti then Moorea and Bora Bora. In the Leeward Islands, the number of rooms sold is also higher than two years ago, i.e. 4,170 rooms in 2021 against 3,790 in 2019.
In total, Polynesians represent 39.5% of all tourists recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
International and domestic flights: better occupancy than in 2020
While the second quarter of 2020 recorded only 664 passengers, that of 2021 reports 16,717 arrivals by plane, with an average occupancy of 50%.
Inter-island flights are also seeing better activity than in 2020, with 60,000 passengers disembarked in the second quarter of 2021, i.e. 6 times more than last year.
Increased turnover in catering
If the tourism sector has seen its overall turnover drop, from 32.5 billion XPF in 2019 to 16.1 billion XPF in 2021, catering companies have experienced a more flourishing year than in 2019. While catering brought in 5.2 billion Fcfp two years ago, the sector recorded 5.4 billion Fcfp in turnover in 2021, an increase of 4% over two years. Of all the other tourism-related services, this is the only one to have seen an increase.
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