Honiara's main thoroughfare, Mendana
Avenue. Situated between the Yacht Club and the popular Solomon Kitano Mendana
Hotel, its officers provide tourist information and can radio ahead to announce
visitors' arrivals to guest houses in the remoter areas. Honiara contains several
banks including the Westpac Bank,
the ANZ Bank and the National Bank. Honiara has a harbour from which
ferries depart to the various provinces. The violence which has plagued Honiara
and the islands since the late 1990s has a devastating impact upon the economy
due to the fact that virtually all tourist organizations around the world
specifically warned tourists wishing to visit the islands to stay away from it,
especially in 2002 and 2003 at the peak of the troubles. In 1998 the country earned around $13
million from tourism and just $629,000 in 1999, equating to an average spend
per visit of only US$254 (about US$35/day). In
1999, tourism in the city and nation accounted for just 4.38% of the total GDP
