Papua New Guinea recorded a total of 39,000 tourists in 2020, ranking 187th in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Papua New Guinea, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.0039 tourists per resident, Papua New Guinea ranked 196th in the world. In Melanesia, it ranked 5th.
In 2018, Papua New Guinea generated around 4.23 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.016 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 0 percent of all international tourism receipts in Melanesia.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2018 spent about 21 US dollars.
Development of the tourism sector in Papua New Guinea from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Papua New Guinea each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
The red line represents the average of all 5 countries in Melanesia.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 25.00 million USD, or about 0.54 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 42,000 tourists at that time and roughly 595 USD per person. Within 23 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased substantially. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $4.23 million billion, 0.018 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $22 on their vacation in Papua New Guinea.
Full figures for 2020, the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, are not currently available. However, national and international travel has been restricted worldwide, and some countries have even been closed off from the outside world altogether. Dramatic revenue losses are expected, with some countries experiencing losses of up to more than 80%.
All data for Papua New Guinea in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
39,000
2019
211,000
2018
195,000
4.23 m $
0.018 %
22 $
2017
182,000
15.26 m $
0.067 %
84 $
2016
198,000
1.60 m $
0.0077 %
8 $
2015
199,000
1.70 m $
0.0078 %
9 $
2014
191,000
2.80 m $
0.012 %
15 $
2013
182,000
3.70 m $
0.017 %
20 $
2012
175,000
2.40 m $
0.011 %
14 $
2011
165,000
5.10 m $
0.028 %
31 $
2010
146,000
2.40 m $
0.017 %
16 $
2009
126,000
2.10 m $
0.018 %
17 $
2008
120,000
3.70 m $
0.032 %
31 $
2007
104,000
4.50 m $
0.047 %
43 $
2006
78,000
3.93 m $
0.047 %
50 $
2005
69,000
9.40 m $
0.19 %
136 $
2004
59,000
7.10 m $
0.18 %
120 $
2003
56,000
4.90 m $
0.14 %
88 $
2002
54,000
3.00 m $
0.10 %
56 $
2001
54,000
5.00 m $
0.16 %
93 $
2000
58,000
7.00 m $
0.20 %
121 $
1999
67,000
6.00 m $
0.17 %
90 $
1998
67,000
15.00 m $
0.40 %
224 $
1997
66,000
8.00 m $
0.16 %
121 $
1996
61,000
14.00 m $
0.27 %
230 $
1995
42,000
25.00 m $
0.54 %
595 $
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
Quality of life 2023 in country comparison
Mega cities - the biggest cities all over the world
Chinese - Worldwide distribution