[?]Isit Tonga,

More Tourists

[?]Merican Samoa

Big increases in the number

: tourists visiting American

unoa by air and Tonga by sea iring 1966 are revealed in

atistics released in January.

TINETEEN cruise ships brought i 14,581 passengers to Tonga in '66 for day-long or overnight stops mpared with 6,398 passengers ought by eight cruise ships in 1965.

The 145 planes which called at >nga in 1966 carried 1,418 inwards tssengers and 1,537 outwards pas ngers.

The Tongan weekly newspaper, hronicle, says even more tourists e expected in Tonga this year.

Twelve cruise ships have confirmed eir intention of stopping at Nukua fa in 1967 and other regular callers e expected to boost the number to ore than 20 ships.

American Samoa’s Office of Tour tn released figures which showed a ) per cent, increase in tourists from ovember to December. A tourist is sfined as anyone staying more than 1 hours.

Total arrivals by air in November imbered 386 (274 Americans) and rivals by air and sea in December ere 461 (303 Americans).

Effect of strike

The Director of Tourism, Fofo F. Sunia, said the Qantas strike msed some of the increase because any travellers from Australia had i stop in Pago Pago to make plane mnections to the US.

The Australians passing through merican Samoa more than doubled -from 29 in November to 60 in 'ecember.

The average length of stay of turists was three days in November nd four days in December.

The November and December gures represented a big rise on gures for the early months of 1966.

In February, 297 people visited unerican Samoa (217 were Ameri ans); in March 274 people arrived 182 Americans) and the May figure fas 281 (175 Americans).

The average stay for these three lonths was three days.