Cruise ship visitors to Hawaii spent about $105 per person per day so far this quarter, up from $90 this time last year. Kauai led the state with nearly $6 per person in “shore spending.” Indeed, the average daily spending
Cruise ship visitors to Hawaii spent about $105 per person per day so far this quarter, up from $90 this time last year.
Kauai led the state with nearly $6 per person in “shore spending.”
Indeed, the average daily spending by cruise visitors was up 17 percent statewide.
“They’re getting off the ships and not just shopping but going on tours before they shop,” said Sue Kanoho, executive director of Kauai Visitors Bureau. “The activities have been aggressive in trying to do tours.”
The bad news is that nearly 10,000 fewer visitors came to Kauai on cruise ships, dropping nearly 22 percent this quarter, from 58,708 to 49,567.
The dip in cruise visitor numbers was primarily due to several smaller ships with less passenger capacity that toured the islands in the first quarter. In addition, there was only one Hawaii-home ported ship compared to two Hawaii-based cruise ships in first quarter 2003.
Most of the visitors coming to Hawai’i for cruises are from the Eastern region of the Mainland. Nearly a quarter are from the U.S. West region and the rest are from other markets.
Visitors from the U.S. West, U.S. East, Canada, and Europe spent more compared to those who came during first quarter 2003. The average daily spending by those from the U.S. East was the highest at $112 per person, followed by visitors from Canada ($106 per person), Europe ($100 per person) and the U.S. West ($87 per person).
Kauai is bracing for the low season for cruising. That’s because it’s typical for cruise lines to reposition their ships in places like Alaska and the Carribean this time of year.
But the cruise business will get a boost this summer from the addition of a Norwegian Cruise Line ship “Pride of America,” scheduled to sail seven-night inter-island cruises in Hawaiian waters beginning in July.
“It’s going to be a whole other ballgame because we are going to have another home-ported ship,” said Marsha Wienert, the governor’s tourism liaison.
The ship is the first U.S.-flag cruise ship to be built in nearly 50 years, and will have a crew made up entirely of U.S. officers and crew.
Meanwhile, the Pride of Aloha, currently called the Norwegian Sky, is scheduled to begin Nawiliwili trips June 30. According to reports from This Week magazine of Kauai, Pride of Aloha will enter Nawiliwili June 30, July 1, July 5 and July 6.
