Nearly 5.2 million people have flown to Hawai‘i so far this year, and total visitor days for September ran 7.2 percent better than this time last year, reports the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Kaua‘i’s numbers were strong
Nearly 5.2 million people have flown to Hawai‘i so far this year, and total visitor days for September ran 7.2 percent better than this time last year, reports the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Kaua‘i’s numbers were strong at 772,757 visitors so far this year by air, up 3.8 percent over this time last year.
Indeed, September was a good month for every island.
Total visitor expenditures rose 9.6 percent to $783.3 million for this September and increased 6.5 percent to $7.7 billion on a year-to-date basis.
Kaua‘i has a 8.8 percent visitor increase over last September, and 14.1 percent more visitors flew to Kaua‘i last month than the year before.
Nearly 79,000 people flew to Kaua‘i last month, and another 21,180 came by ship – a 34.9 percent increase over last September.
But total visitors coming to Kaua‘i by ship is down some 13 percent compared to last year’s totals. Nearly 144,000 visitors came by ship so far this year, down from 166,500 at this time last year.
If September was supposed to be a “soft month,” no one told visitors from the mainland. Visitor totals from the mainland jumped 11.8 percent to 350,326 visitors, DBEDT said yesterday. International arrivals rose 5.4 percent. Arrivals from Japan were relatively but Canadian visitor arrivals surged 20.5 percent.
Almost 19 percent more Canadians visited Kaua‘i in September, after stopping off on Oahu.
But the amount of money visitors spent last month and so far this year has far outweighed any visitor drop off.
On Kaua‘i, people spent 13.7 percent more this year than last year, and just over 18 percent more last month than in September, 2003. Visitors spent $86.7 million last month, and $845.7 million so far this year. They spent an average of $174.7 per person per day.
Kaua‘i Visitor Bureau’s Executive Director Sue Kanoho said that visitors are spending more on Kaua‘i because there’s more to spend it on.
People are not just getting off the boat and walking around, but actually taking rides and tours. And now that the Pride of Aloha overnights on Kaua‘i, people simply have more time to spend more, Kanoho said.
Visitor spending statewide rose 9.6 percent to $783.3 million for September. For the first nine months of the year, spending was up 6.5 percent to $7.7 billion.
More people are flying here in part because there are more available seats .
“To meet the strong travel demand from the U.S. domestic market, especially from the U.S. East, there has been an increase in air seat capacity to the islands,” state Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert said.
Capacity so far this year is up 5.9 percent from the U.S. West and nonstop capacity from the U.S. East is up 36.5 percent.
Honeymoon and wedding traffic is running roughly 9 percent higher than last year. The increase can be seen from U.S. East, U.S. West and Japan.
Phil Hayworth, Business Editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) and mailto:phayworth@pulitzer.net
