BY MARSHA WIENERT – A healthy summer travel season, combined with increases in the number of domestic and international airline seats positively impacted Hawai’i’s tourism industry and resulted in increases in visitor arrivals, total per person per day spending and overall visitor spending for the second month in a row.
The continued improvement in the visitor industry is welcomed by businesses and residents throughout our state and reinforces our Administration’s optimism in Hawai’i’s improving economy.
Kaua’i, Maui and the Big Island benefitted from a healthy 7.3 percent increase in visitors from the U.S. West, with 53 percent spending their entire stay on neighbor islands in June.
A robust 33.5 percent increase in international visitors, who primarily stay on O’ahu, was led by a dynamic 47.8 percent increase in Japanese visitors. It is also encouraging to continue to welcome more visitors from developing tourism markets in Asia, specifically Korea, China and Taiwan.
We are expecting Hawai’i’s summer season to continue to outpace last year, thanks to the successful marketing campaign plans that have been implemented with our travel partners. Although we still have a ways to go to make up for what has been lost during these challenging economic times, our visitor industry is on the right path and there is reason for increased confidence in Hawai’i’s economic recovery.
State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert submitted this report.