In Thursday’s regular agenda meeting at the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort, the Hawaii Tourism Authority outlined target tourism statistics in the state. According to the report, the HTA targets total spending on Hawaii for 2003 to be a little over
In Thursday’s regular agenda meeting at the Radisson Kauai Beach Resort, the Hawaii Tourism Authority outlined target tourism statistics in the state.
According to the report, the HTA targets total spending on Hawaii for 2003 to be a little over $10 billion for tourists from North America, Japan and other geographic locations.
The majority of the total yearly spending would be from travelers from the western portion of the United States.
In 2002, the actual total spending figure was a little over $9.7 billion.
The HTA also targets that the average person will spend $165.82 per day on the islands. A tourist from the eastern part of the U.S. will spend $165.82 while a Japanese traveler will spend the most, $237.28 per day.
In 2002, the total actual average spent per day was a little more than $162 with Japanese tourists averaging about $232.
The HTA targets that the total number of visitor days in the State will be 60,510,423 with the largest number visiting from the western portion of the U.S. In 2002, the actual number of visitor days was 60,068,620.
On Kaua‘i, actual numbers taken for the first six months of 2003 show that June had the most arrivals (45,021) while April had the second most (40,948) from western United States visitors. Japanese visitors arriving to Kaua‘i frequented the island the most in March (6,197) while April had the fewest number of arrivals (2,240).
The agency also targets that the average length of stay in Hawaii for tourists will be 9.29 days, which would be a decrease from the actual stay recorded in 2002 (9.40 days).
Other tourism statistics on Kaua‘i illustrated that the average daily spending of visitors who arrived by air to the island showed small gains, according to first half data compiled by the State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) on August 8.
Tourists from outside Hawaii spent an average of $56 per person on lodging, $30 per person on food and beverage, $17 per person on shopping and $15 per person on transportation.
Over 80 percent of those who traveled to the island came here on vacation while just under 10 percent came to get married, 4.2 percent visited friends and family and 3.7 percent attended conventions and or conferences.
About 49 percent of those of the out-of-state visitors to Kaua‘i stayed in hotels while just under 27 percent remained in condominiums, 16.8 percent stayed in timeshare properties and 6.8 percent lodged in apartments/rental homes.
In the first half of 2003, nearly 53 percent of those who vacationed on the island stayed here exclusively. A year ago, that number was 38.8 percent.
Fifty one percent of those who traveled to Kaua‘i were first time visitors to the island, a five percent drop from 2002.
The average length of stay for tourists to the island was 6.88 days, which was up from the 6.75 days recorded in the first half of 2002.
According to data collected by the Travel Industry Association of America (TIA), the war in Iraq seems to have had little impact on U.S. traveler sentiment.
The TIA also believes that consumers feel that travel is affordable right now.
However, consumers do have concerns about having enough money for their trips, which could reflect the dissatisfaction with the country’s economy.
