Foreign arrivals slowly return, but cost of living pressures and China’s zero-Covid policy weigh on visitor numbers

Mari Kishigawa’s family have been in the tourism business for decades. In the remote Pacific country of Palau, on an even more remote archipelago, Mari runs the 11-room Carp Island Resort, a 30km boat journey from Palau’s commercial centre, Koror.

But beneath canopies of palm trees, bordered by crystal clear water, Mari is reassessing her future.