By: Laurel Marewibuel KOROR, Palau — President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. huddled Tuesday with Qantas executives in Brisbane to celebrate booming traffic on the airline’s Brisbane-Palau route — and plot its next leap forward. The service, running under Australia’s extended Palau Paradise Express program through November, has exploded from just 85 passengers in January 2025 […]
Tag: Palau Visitors Authority
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COVID- 19: April arrivals down to unprecedented zero
April arrivals plummeted to an unprecedented zero this year compared with the same month in 2019 due to COVID-19 according to the latest Palau Visitor’s Authority (PVA) arrival statistics. In April 2019, the tourism-reliant nation received 8,439 tourists, and usually this time of the year Palau is bustling with tourists and divers from different parts […]
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COPE Challenge starts off strong
Palau Visitors Authority launched on April 13 a social media challenge to the public called the COPE (Contribute to Our Pristine Excellence) Challenge. The challenge invites the public to post pictures of Palau for a whole month with the theme changing each day. Participants who accumulate the most likes on Facebook will win various local […]
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PVA says its preparing for tourism recovery
The Palau Visitors Authority (PVA) said that it is preparing for recovery by drafting market strategies to help the industry bounce back strongly in response to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to Finance Minister Elbuchel Sadang, PVA Managing Director said that because Palau will be competing with the entire world for tourists […]
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PVA asks gov’t to consider tax breaks for businesses
Palau Visitors Authority (PVA) recommended a proposed measure that will provide a tax break for hotels and businesses amid the ongoing global COVID-19 crisis. In a letter to Finance Minister Elbuchel Sadang on March 26, PVA Managing Director Stephanie Nakamura said the agency is recommending several measures to enable the tourism industry- hurting from the pandemic, […]
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70% decline in tourism numbers as predicted
As predicted with the suspension of direct flights from China, Macao, and Hong Kong and the spread of COVID-19 across the world, a number of visitors to Palau for the month of February and up to March 23, dropped drastically. Based on the latest visitor arrival report from Palau Visitors Authority, the number of arrivals […]