Visitor spending, arrivals continue to grow in 2010
HONOLULU — Total spending by visitors who came to Hawaii in July 2010 grew 23.3 percent ($210 million) from July 2009 to $1.1 billion.
Total expenditures for the first seven months of 2010 was $6.4 billion — up 10.2 percent compared to the first seven months of 2009, according to preliminary statistics released last week by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The increase in visitor expenditures for July 2010 was due to higher average daily visitor spending — $168 per person, compared to $152 per person in July 2009 — and a 9 percent growth in total visitor arrivals to 680,743 visitors.
This was the eighth consecutive month of positive growth in visitor arrivals since December 2009.
All top four visitor markets reported increased arrivals compared to July 2009, led by U.S. East (+12.3 percent), Canada (+10.7 percent), Japan (+8 percent) and U.S. West (+3.4 percent).
For the first seven months of 2010, total visitor days for all visitors grew 6.1 percent compared to year-to-date 2009, while total arrivals rose 6.2 percent to 4,079,818 visitors.
All islands experienced heavier visitor traffic in July 2010. Arrivals to Lanai (+13.9 percent) increased the most compared to last July, followed by Maui (+11.5 percent), Oahu (+8.4 percent), Hawaii Island (+7.6 percent), Kauai (+6.4 percent) and Molokai (+5.8 percent).
Arrivals to Maui increased from all visitor markets in July 2010. In addition, Maui-only visitations from U.S. West (+11.7 percent), U.S. East (+13.1 percent) and Canada (+12.4 percent) were up substantially compared to last July.
Total visitor spending for the month of July 2010 increased on all islands. On Maui, spending increased 27.4 percent to $295 million.
Total air seats into Kahului Airport for July 2010 rose 15.2 percent over 2009.
Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said, “Hawaii’s tourism economy continues to show positive gains following seven months of increased visitor arrivals and spending. Efforts to drive demand and boost short-term arrivals have resulted in visitor expenditures increasing 10.2 percent over 2009 to $6.4 billion, and total arrivals increasing by nine percent.”