Increased Visitor Arrivals, Spending through August

Hawai‘i’s visitor industry has continued to surpass last year’s record-breaking numbers in both arrivals and spending, according to a recent press release from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Visitor arrivals during the first eight months of the year reached 5,597,764 (+0.1%) while visitor expenditures reached nearly $10 billion (+2%), which translates to nearly $1.1 billion in total tax revenue for the state.

For the first eight months of the year, an average of 23,000 visitors arrived to the Hawaiian Islands each day, contributing to an average daily census of 208,000 visitors. This generated an estimated $41 million in expenditures per day, 2 percent more than the same period last year.

Most of the neighbor islands continued to experience a boost in visitor spending through August as HTA continued to focus on promoting visitor arrivals and spending across the state.

HTA also continues to expand efforts in developing markets, especially in the Asia Pacific region, to diversify Hawai‘i’s tourism profile and balance slight dips in arrivals from the core North America market. Arrivals from both China (+30.1%) and Korea (+20.2%) continue to increase by double digits, year-over-year, with China being the highest daily spenders of all markets.

While visitor arrivals from Japan remain stable, a recent major hike in consumption tax and a weakening Japanese yen led to a slight decline in visitor spending year-to-date through August, in comparison to 2013.

However, HTA anticipates seeing a boost next month due to the two-day Arashi concert that took place on Sept. 18 and 19. The popular Japanese boy band attracted more than 15,000 Japanese visitors during the softer shoulder period, which is also expected to generate approximately $20 million in visitor expenditures. HTA’s contractor, Hawai‘i Tourism Japan is also working on additional innovative programs to attract Japan’s mature market to the Hawaiian Islands.

As competition becomes more aggressive, the HTA will continue to work with all of its global marketing contractors and industry partners on maintaining the momentum and success of Hawai‘i’s tourism economy, focusing on implementing strategies that target long-term sustainability for the industry.

Visit www.hawaiitourismauthority.org for more information.