By Staff Writer
The Central Bank of Samoa has recorded a huge downturn in visitor earnings and remittances for the monthly report of March 2020, blamed on the ‘adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.’
The tourism industry recorded a substantial drop in visitor arrivals of 62.7 per cent or close to 7000 visitors down to just around 4,000 visitors when compared to March of 2019.
The figures continued a slide from the previous month of February 2020 of 41 percent or close to 3,000 visitors.
With the drop in arrivals the total earnings from visitors alone fell by 63.2 per cent or just over $21m tala down to $12.6m compared to the amounts recorded for the same month in 2019.
Compared to the previous month which is February 2020 it came to 39.5 per cent drop or $8.2m reduction in earnings.
For private remittances the total for the month recorded a 15.2 per cent or an $8.3m tala drop to $46.3m when compared to March of 2019.
The good news is that figures were higher than the previous month of February 2020 by 10.3 per cent or $4.3m tala.
The full Central Bank Report:
Visitor Arrivals
The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry saw a substantial reduction downturn of 62.7 percent (or 6,999 visitors) to 4,164 visitors over the same month last year which also recorded a drop of 41.0 percent (or 2,889 visitors) over the previous month.
With the lockdown of international borders, the continuous restrictions on travel expanded and the introduction of the 14-day quarantine for in-coming passengers, the main source markets for tourists fell considerably when compared to the same period last year:
- New Zealand (down 2,725 visitors)
- Australia (down 1,486 visitors)
- American Samoa (down 855 visitors)
- USA (down 728 visitors)
- Others (down 611 visitors)
- Europe (down 594 visitors)
Moreover, the reductions were recorded for all by purpose categories:
- Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) (down 3,614 visitors)
- Holiday (down 2,615 visitors)
- Business and Conference (down 389 visitors)
- Other (down 343 visitors)
- Sport (down 38 visitors)
Consequently, total visitor arrivals in the first nine months of 2019/20 contracted 7.4 percent (or 9,995 visitors) to 124,399 visitors compared to the same period last year. Significant decreases were recorded for New Zealand (down 8,221 visitors), American Samoa (down 3,498 visitors), Australia (down 2,832 visitors), Europe (down 1,419 visitors) and USA (down 714 visitors). The number of visitors who were ‘VFR’, ‘Holiday’ and ‘Other’ all fell by 9,930 visitors, 4,612 visitors and 1,297 visitors respectively.
Total Visitor Receipts fell by 63.2 percent (or $21.7 million) to $12.6 million due to a decrease in the average visitor expenditure over the same month in 2019 and was 39.5 percent (or $8.2 million) less than the previous month.
Furthermore, total visitor receipts in the first nine months of 2019/20 fell by 6.3 percent (or $25.2 million) to $375.3 million when compared to the same period last year. Underpinning this overall decrease were lower earnings from New Zealand (down $23.7 million), Australia (down $11.9 million), American Samoa (down $8.7 million), USA ($3.4 million) and Europe ($2.1 million) where by purpose, ‘VFR’, ‘Holiday’ and ‘Other’ dropped by 15.1 percent, 10.1 percent and 8.8 percent respectively.
The tourism price index was 8.8 percent lower than in March 2019 due to a substantial decrease in ‘Accommodation’ sub-indexes.
Private Remittances
Total private remittances recorded a 15.2 percent (or $8.3 million) decrease to $46.3 million over March 2019 but was 10.3 percent (or $4.3 million) higher than the previous month.
Primarily contributing to the overall decrease over the year was less funds received from USA (down $5.6 million), Australia (down $5.5 million) and Others’ (down $0.3 million). By recipient, decreases were recorded for ‘Non-profit institutions serving households’ (NPISH) (down $8.7 million), ‘Hand carried cash’ (down $2.5 million) and ‘Others’ (down $2.2 million). For the record, we would like to thank and acknowledge the Prime Minister of New Zealand for accepting our Prime Minister’s humble request for the inclusion of money transfer operators’ agents as essential services during the lockdown. This has helped immensely in ensuring that the vulnerable groups and communities in Samoa continue to receive much needed remittance from their loving families in New Zealand.
Total inflow of private remittances in the first nine months of 2019/20 went up by 1.7 percent (or $7.0 million) to $416.1 million over the same period last year. Largely responsible for the overall increase in the first nine months were gains in transfers from New Zealand (up $17.4 million), Others’ (up $4.2 million) and American Samoa (up $2.8 million). Partially responsible for the increase in remittances was the 2.8 percent depreciation of the Samoan Tala against the US dollar. By recipient, total funds for ‘Family and Households’ and ‘In-Kind’ all increased by $15.5 million and $3.1 million respectively.
The share of remittance inflows over the year through money transfer operators (MTOs) widened to 79.3 percent from 66.9 percent whilst funds received directly through the commercial banks contracted to 20.7 percent from 33.1 percent.
The average cost of sending NZD$200.00 to Samoa narrowed to 7.82 percent from 9.05 percent in March 2019 whereas the average cost of sending AUD$200.00 to Samoa also fell to 7.02 percent from 8.25 percent in the same month of 2019.