Kaua‘i bucked the state trend in visitor arrivals for 2007, recording an increase in all four major markets. The Garden Isle was the only island with increased visitor traffic from the U.S. West and East, Canada and Japan compared to
Kaua‘i bucked the state trend in visitor arrivals for 2007, recording an increase in all four major markets. The Garden Isle was the only island with increased visitor traffic from the U.S. West and East, Canada and Japan compared to 2006.
Total arrivals were up 5.7 percent to 1,271,399 on Kaua‘i in 2007 — a result of increased domestic visitors, not international. O‘ahu, Maui and Moloka‘i saw declines for the year, while Big Island and Lana‘i failed to break the 1 percent mark for total arrival increases, according to early data from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Total expenditures and per-person-per-day spending were a different story, with Kaua‘i falling in the middle of the pack with modest increases. Visitor spending was up 4 percent on Kaua‘i to $1.3 billion.
The state as a whole in 2007 saw total arrivals fall 1.2 percent to 7.3 million visitors. Expenditures for the year statewide were up less than 1 percent to $12.2 billion.
Sue Kanoho, executive director for the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau, said the growth for Kaua‘i as the state flattened out was the most notable information from the state report.
She attributed the growth to other businesses that have been marketing their Kaua‘i projects and getting the word out about the island, in addition to continued demand for the Kaua‘i experience.
However, the upward trend is not likely to continue, she speculated.
“I expect Kaua‘i will flatten out in 2008,” she said.
While capturing the Japanese market continues to be a challenge for Kaua‘i, it grew 3.8 percent over 2006 — making Kaua‘i the only island to see an increase in Japanese arrivals.
The Canadian market continued to grow in 2007, wrapping up the year with five consecutive months of increases. Kanoho said the exchange rate and availability of flights are major factors for Canada arrivals, both of which “turned around for our benefit.”
Statewide, arrivals from Canada experienced the strongest growth in 2007, with a 5.3 percent jump over 2006. The only other market to see an increase for the state was U.S. West arrivals, at 0.1 percent.
In 2007, the state’s total visitor days decreased 1.6 percent, though the average length of stay was virtually unchanged at 9.15 days.
While not impressive figures, state Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert was optimistic.
“Hawai‘i’s visitor industry remained stable in 2007, especially coming off of two robust years of growth,” she said. “We continue to be encouraged by the increase in visitor spending, as well as ongoing growth in the number of visitors from markets such as Canada … and the strong performance of Hawai‘i’s cruise industry.”
December 2007 stats
Visitor expenditures for the state in December 2007 rose $37 million or 3.2 percent above December 2006 to $1.2 billion, according to preliminary statistics.
The average daily visitor spending for December grew from $179 per person in 2006 to $183 per person in 2007, a 2.5 percent increase.
Total visitor arrivals decreased 2.7 percent to 649,159 visitors in December 2007. However, visitors stayed longer — 10.07 days in December 2007 compared to 9.68 days the year before.
Among the top four visitor markets, only arrivals from Canada increased (19.6 percent), while the U.S. West, U.S. East and Japanese arrivals decreased by 5.2 percent, 7 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, when compared to the year prior.
Total arrivals from all other geographic areas increased 7.6 percent.
