For Immediate Release: Oct. 5, 2006
DBEDT Release News 06-28

Rating by Japanese Visitors Continues To Improve

Note: The 2005 Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Report can be viewed at: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/vsat/

HONOLULU--Visitors continue to give high marks for their overall experience in Hawaii. Approximately two-thirds (67.4%) of U.S. visitors found their most recent trip excellent and over the past four years the percentage of Japanese visitors who have found Hawaii excellent has risen slightly from a low in 2002 of 48.7 percent to 53.0 percent in 2005, according to statistics from the 2005 Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Report released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

"Hawaii residents working in all sectors of our visitor industry should be proud that their effort to uphold a high level of visitor satisfaction will ensure a strong visitor industry," said Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "High satisfaction is a leading-indicator of customer retention and loyalty. Satisfying visitors' needs and expectations encourages return trips and results in a higher likelihood to recommend Hawaii to others."

Three-quarters of U.S. West visitors (74.6%) said they were very likely to return to the islands within the next five years. About half of U.S. East (47.1%), Japanese (49.4%) and Canadian (51.2%) visitors answered that they were very likely to return to Hawaii in the next five years.

The 2005 report details information collected from a survey of U.S., Japanese, Canadian and European visitors about their satisfaction with different experiences in the islands, the activities they participated in, their likelihood to recommend/revisit Hawaii, their trip planning process, and detailed visitor characteristics including secondary purpose of trip, other destinations recently visited, travel companions, income, employment and education.

Additional highlights from the report:

New to the 2005 report, detailed visitors' satisfaction and rating of their experiences are reported on an island by island basis (Hilo and Kona were reported separately) instead of an aggregated statewide measure. The data collection methodology was changed to better reflect the specificity and uniqueness of each island. In some cases not all island results were presented due to limited sample size.

In addition, new questions were added to determine whether a visitor stayed in a home that they owned or rented.

Overall Island Experience

In general the majority of visitors felt that the islands they visited were excellent, in 2005. However, the sentiment towards each island varies by Major Market Area.

• The islands that the most U.S. West visitors rated excellent were Maui (73.1%), Molokai (75.6%) and Kauai (70.9%).
• U.S. East visitors found excellent experiences on Maui (73.7%) and Kauai (70.4%).
• The Japanese market's highest rated islands were Maui (57.8%) and Molokai (57.4%).
• Canadian visitors found Kauai (65.3%) and Maui (68%) to more likely offer an excellent experience.
• Europeans find Kauai to be an excellent experience (69.9%). Many also considered a trip to Maui to be excellent (68.2%).

Participation in Activities

• U.S. West visitors do not engage in sightseeing as much as the other visitors. They are typically self-directed travelers with 73.6 percent doing their own self-guided sightseeing.
• More than half (56%) of U.S. East visitors went to a Polynesian show-luau and almost half (45.5%) tried snorkeling-scuba diving.
• Shopping continues to be the number one activity for Japanese travelers (99.1%). Japanese visitors do not frequent the swap meet (only 12.3%) but have a liking for convenience stores (80.4%). On Oahu, half of the Japanese visitors (54%) opt for self-guided sightseeing but on the other islands tour bus excursions are the norm.
• Canadians enjoy high energy activities with half (52.0%) doing some snorkeling-scuba diving and 43.3 percent running-jogging-fitness walking. Canadians like to go to supermarkets (69.2%) and convenience stores (69.6%).
• Europeans try to do a lot while on vacation, mostly because they are predominately first-time visitors (71.6%). A lot of European visitors do some type of shopping (95.9%) or go to a supermarket (70.6%). Many Europeans also do cultural activities (78.3%), particularly historic sites (59.9%) and Polynesian shows (42.7%)

Trip Planning and Booking Time Table

The value of the Internet as a source of travel information is high among U.S., Canadian and European visitors. However, only half of Japanese visitors (49.9%) sited the Internet as a source for trip-planning information.

• The percentage of U.S. visitors that use the Internet (66.4%) is more than double the number who rely on travel agents (27.7%) for trip-planning information.
• Since many U.S. West visitors have been to Hawaii before, they rely on personal experiences to help them plan their trips (51.7%).
• Japanese visitors continue to put heavy reliance on travel agents (67.5%), on travel magazines (44%) and travel books (43.1%).
• Few Japanese use airlines as a source of information (10.1%), while a third of U.S. West visitors gather information from airlines (33.1%).

Among those visitors who made use of the Internet, the way in which the Internet was used in planning and booking of trips differed between the U.S. and Japanese markets.

• U.S. Internet users (69%) and to a lesser extent Canadians users (53.8%) relied on the Internet for online airline reservations. 45.7 percent of U.S. and 46 percent of Canadian Internet users made online hotel reservations.
• Half of the Internet users from U.S. West (50.5%) and U.S. East (47.7%) also used the Internet to make their rental car reservations.
• Among Japanese Internet users, the Internet was used mainly to find a hotel or place to stay (69.3%). Recently locating shopping places has become a popular use (43.7%).

Visitor Profile:

The 2005 Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Report is available in Adobe Acrobat format on the DBEDT Web Site: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/vsat/

A limited number of the printed report will be available in late October 2006 for pick up free of charge, at:

DBEDT - Research & Analysis Division
One Capitol District Building
250 South Hotel Street, 4th Floor, Diamond Head Wing
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Phone: (808) 586-2466

A shipping and handling charge per report will be applied to all mail requests at the following rates: $3.50 (U.S. Domestic); $4.00 (Canada); $5.50 (Mexico) and $10.00 (Other International). Only checks will be accepted.

For further information on the reports, contact the DBEDT's Research and Economic Analysis Division at 586-2466.

For more information, contact:
Marsha Wienert, Tourism Liaison
Phone: (808) 586-2362
Email: marsha.wienert@hawaii.gov

Dave Young
Communications
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov