The number of New Zealanders who visited Vanautu in the traditionally slow tourist month of February shot up this year.
Figures just out from the National Statistics Office show the overall number of visitors is lower than last year but the number of New Zealand visitors rose by 69 percent and, for those from New Caledonia, by 18 percent.
However, the number of visitors from Australia, the main source of tourists to the republic, dropped by 30 percent.
Visitors arriving in Luganville in February went down by more than 64 percent compared to the same time last year.
The number of visitors on cruise ships also dropped - from 13 and a half thousand last February to fewer than 6,000.
The average length of stay for visitors was close to 12 days, an increase of three and a half days compared to last February and also an increase on last January's average.
The figures also show the number of people on holiday in Vanautu in February, as opposed to business or family-related visits, was higher than the same time last year.
