31 Jan 2017

New record for Cooks Islands tourism

5:46 pm on 31 January 2017

A record number of tourists visited the Cook Islands in 2016 with visitor numbers increasing by 17 percent on the year before.

A Cook Islands beach.

A Cook Islands beach. Photo: 123rf

The country welcomed a total of 146,473 visitors last year.

The leading market for tourists, New Zealand, was up 18 percent while the strongest growth was in visitors from Japan at 76 percent.

A study last year showed the need for the sector to change its approach and focus on having people staying longer and spending more.