Visitor arrivals at 678 for April due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic

The provisional numbers show that visitor arrivals to Fiji for April 2020 totaled 678.

The Fiji Bureau of Statistics says this decrease in numbers can be attributed to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on international travel due to closure of most international airports.

In comparison, in 2019, visitor arrival numbers for April stood at 76,813.

From the 678 visitors that came in last month, 6 came by air while 672 came by sea.

The sea visitor arrivals were mostly seamen on fishing vessels, who were already in Fiji waters when international travel was restricted.

Meanwhile a total of 7,608 Fiji residents departed our shores during the month of March of which 5,855 or 77 percent were for a short-term absence of under three months and 1,122 or 14.7% were for over three months and within 12 months period.