Palau opens Australia embassy as visitor arrivals near 2019 levels

Palau opened its first embassy in Australia on Oct. 12, with President Surangel S. Whipps Jr. and a delegation that included lawmakers traveling to Canberra for the diplomatic milestone.

The visit also gave Whipps an opportunity to promote Palau as a tourism destination ahead of a seasonal expansion of Qantas’ Brisbane-Koror service. The airline will add a second weekly round-trip flight in December, giving Australian travelers the option of a four-day getaway. Australia is one of Palau’s fastest-growing visitor markets. Australian arrivals increased 55.1%, from 1,998 during the first nine months of 2025 to 3,099 during the same period in 2026, according to the Palau Visitors Authority. Total arrivals rose 25.6%, from 50,899 to 63,948.



Despite that growth, arrivals remained 9.4% below the comparable 2019 total. Palau welcomed 70,611 visitors from January through September that year, leaving a gap of 6,663 visitors against the pre-pandemic benchmark. This year’s arrivals have reached approximately 91% of that level.

The recovery remains uneven. Arrivals increased over 2025 in eight of the first nine months of 2026, with June the exception. January was the only month to exceed its corresponding 2019 total, while June and July came within 3% and 1.7%, respectively, of their pre-pandemic levels.



Australian travelers accounted for about 5% of Palau’s arrivals through September, making Australia a relatively small but rapidly growing source market.

Qantas’ second weekly Brisbane-Koror service is scheduled to operate from December through the end of March 2027. Flights will depart Brisbane on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with return departures from Koror on Thursdays and Sundays. The additional frequency will give travelers more flexibility than the current once-weekly schedule.