For Immediate Release: December 21, 2006
DBEDT Release News 06-35

Note: November 2006 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

November Visitor Arrivals Set New Record

HONOLULU--According to preliminary data released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT), total visitor spending rose 1.8 percent in November 2006 to $920.3 million, boosted by increases in total visitor days and visitor arrivals. The average daily total visitor spending increased slightly to $183 per person.

Total expenditures for the month of November by U.S. West and Canadian visitors were higher than November 2005, +6.6% and +6.5% respectively. However these gains were offset by decreases in U.S. East (-.5%) and Japanese (-10.5%) visitors expenditures.

Total Visitor days rose 1.5 percent as total arrivals increased 1.6 percent to 571,552 visitors, a new record for the month of November. Among the top four visitor markets, growth in visitors from the U.S. West (+5.9%) and Canada (+8.9%) were offset by lower arrivals from Japan (-3.7%) and the U.S. East (-1.3%). The average length of stay by all visitors in the islands was unchanged from last November at 8.81 days.

First-time visitors increased to 36.1 percent in November, compared to 34.8 percent in November 2005.

"It's very encouraging to see the increase in first-time visitors to Hawaii, since historically these visitors tend to spend more on a daily basis," said State Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "The increase in first-time visitors may account for the phenomenal growth in group tour visitors (+19.9%) as well as the first positive growth in visitors to Oahu (+2%) since April of 2006."

In addition to the increase in visitors on Oahu, Kauai (+11%), Maui (+1.4%), and Lanai (+12.4%) also reported higher visitor arrivals in November 2006. Total visitor spending rose on Oahu (+2%), the Big Island (+4.8%), Kauai (+1.7%), Lanai (+42%) and Maui (+.1%) compared to November 2005.

Of the total number of visitors who came during the month, 34,852 visitors either flew to the state to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships visiting Hawaii, a 13 percent increase from last November. Cruise visitor days in November 2006 and year-to-date 2006 grew 16.8 percent and 32.3 percent, respectively.

For the first 11 months of 2006, total visitor expenditures grew 3.3 percent to $10.9 billion. Total visitor days (-.2%) and total arrivals (-.1%) year-to-date were slightly below the record high achieved in the same period last year.

Domestic arrivals grew 2.4 percent to a new eleven-month record of 4,967,222 visitors while international arrivals declined 6.4 percent. Visitors from Canada (+9.1%) and the U.S. West (+3.8%) increased but arrivals from the U.S. East (-.6%) and Japan (-8.9%) were lower compared to the same period last year.

Year-to-date 2006 preliminary visitor statistics:

• Total visitor expenditures: Visitors spent a total of $10.9 billion in the first 11 months of 2006, 3.3 percent higher compared to the same period last year, with increases from the U.S. West, U.S. East and Canadian visitor markets. Total visitor spending by Japanese visitors declined 5 percent.

  Year-to-date visitor spending on Oahu totaled $5 billion (-1.1%), followed by Maui at $3.2 billion (+10.1%), the Big Island at $1.4 billion (-.4%) and Kauai at $1.1 billion (+8.8%).

• Total air visitors: Total visitor days dipped slightly by .2 percent as record domestic arrivals were offset by decreased visitors from the international market. The average length of stay by all visitors of 9.06 days was unchanged compared to last year.

  Visitor arrivals were higher on Lanai (+13.6%), Kauai (+8%), the Big Island (+5.5%), Molokai (+5%) and Maui (+4.1%) compared to the first 11 months of last year.

  A greater number of visitors came for meetings (+5.4%), incentives (+4.5%) and other business (+2.6%).

  Repeat visitors accounted for 63 percent of the total visitors to Hawaii, versus 62.6 percent for year-to-date 2005.

  Use of accommodations has shifted with hotel-only visitors decreasing 5.2 percent while condo-only and timeshare-only visitors increasing 2.8 percent and 19.5 percent, respectively.

• Air visitors from the top four major market areas (MMAs):

  U.S. West: Total spending by U.S. West visitors reached $4.2 billion, 8.8 percent higher than year-to-date 2005. This group of visitors spent an average of $157 per person per day, an increase of 5.8 percent from the same period last year.

  U.S. West visitor days rose 2.8 percent thanks to a 3.8 percent growth in arrivals to 2,874,168 visitors for the first eleven months of 2006. The Mountain region led the growth with a 12.8 percent increase in domestic arrivals. The average length of stay by U.S. West visitors was 9.34 days, slightly lower than 9.44 days one year ago.

  U.S. East: Total spending by U.S. East visitors increased .8 percent compared to the first eleven months of 2005, to $3.3 billion, the second highest among the four major visitor markets. The average daily spending was $182 per person per day, the second highest among the top four visitor markets.

  U.S. East visitor days decreased (-1%) compared to year-to-date 2005, due to slightly lower arrivals (-.6%) and shorter average length of stay (-.4% to 10.22 days). Arrival growth from the West South Central (+6.3%) and South Atlantic (+2.5%) regions offset decreases from the East North Central (-3.6%), Mid-Atlantic (-4.9%) and New England (-6%) regions.

Japan: Japanese visitors spent a total of $1.9 billion in the first eleven months of 2006, 5 percent lower compared to the same period last year. Japanese visitors continued to spend the most on a daily basis at $269 per person, an increase of 5.6 percent.

Japanese visitor days declined 10 percent, year-to-date, due to an 8.9 percent decrease in visitor arrivals to 1,256,777 visitors and a shorter average length of stay (-1.1%) to 5.64 days.

Canada: Even though year-to-date average daily spending by Canadian visitors ranked last among the top four major visitor markets at $137 per person per day, total expenditures rose 11.9 percent to $417 million in the first eleven months of 2006.

Canadian visitor days grew 8.7 percent, largely from a 9.1 percent growth in arrivals to 233,425 visitors. The average length of stay was the longest among the top four visitor markets, at 13.04 days, similar to year-to-date 2005.

• Per person per trip expenditures by MMA:

  In the first eleven months of 2006, U.S. East visitors spent the most per trip ($1,858 per person), followed by visitors from Canada ($1,787 per person), Japan ($1,514 per person) and the U.S. West ($1,465 per person).

Year-to-date 2006 Preliminary Cruise Visitor Statistics:

Total cruise visitor days rose 32.3 percent in the first eleven months of 2006. Contributing to this increase was a 30.1 percent growth in cruise visitors to 365,790 visitors, including those who arrived by air to board cruise ships and those who came on the ships. These visitors were aboard 52 cruise ships including three U.S. flagged ships home ported in Hawaii, the Pride of Aloha, the Pride of Hawaii and the Pride of America.

Repeat visitors to Hawaii comprised 57.8 percent of out-of-state cruise visitors, compared to 54.1 percent in the same period last year. These cruise visitors stayed an average of 9.74 days in Hawaii, of which 6.32 days were spent on their cruise.

Technical Notes: 2005 air visitor data presented in this news release are the final 2005 numbers. Detailed final statistics are published in the 2005 Annual Visitor Research Report, available at the DBEDT website: www.hawaii.gov/dbedt.

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