For Immediate Release: May 30, 2007
DBEDT Release News 07-13

Visitor Expenditures Declined 1.9 Percent in April 2007

Note: April 2007 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

HONOLULU--According to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), the first four months of 2007 were highlighted by a 1.2 percent increase in total visitor expenditures from the same period last year, to $3.9 billion. Average daily spending rose 3.3 percent to $177 per person. Total visitor days decreased 2 percent compared to year-to-date 2006 while total arrivals were down 1.1 percent.

Visitor expenditures for April 2007 totaled $878.3 million, a decline of 1.9 percent when compared to April 2006. The average daily spending was stable at $175 per person.

Total arrivals dipped 1 percent from April 2006 to 582,466 visitors, causing a 1.7 percent decline in total visitor days. Among the top four visitor markets, visitors from the U.S. West (+4.6%) and Canada (+9.4%) increased but arrivals from the U.S. East (-1.4%) and Japan (-8.9%) were lower compared to the same month last year.

"Overall, Hawai‘i's visitor industry continues to do well, especially as it is compared to the past two record-breaking years," said Marsha Wienert, State Tourism Liaison. "The domestic market continues to be the backbone of Hawai‘i's tourism industry as witnessed by the strong performance of the U.S. West."

Of the total number of visitors who came in April 2007, 47,805 visitors either flew to the state to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships visiting Hawai‘i, an increase of 33.5 percent from last April. Cruise visitor days for the month rose 30.3 percent.

Year-to-date 2007 preliminary visitor statistics:

• Total visitor expenditures: Visitors spent a total of $3.9 billion in the first four months of 2007, 1.2 percent higher than the same period last year. Growth in total spending by the U.S. West and Canadian markets offset decreases from U.S. East and Japanese visitors.

  Visitor spending on O'ahu totaled $1.7 billion (-1%), followed by Maui at $1.2 billion (-.6%), the Big Island at $557 million (+8.5%) and Kaua'i at $406 million (+3.7%).

• Total air visitors: Total visitor days decreased 2 percent due to a 1.1 percent drop in total arrivals. The average length of stay by all visitors was 9.25 days, compared to 9.34 days in year-to-date 2006.

  Visitor arrivals were higher on Kaua'i (+10.7%), Lana'i (+9.9%), the Big Island (+4.4%) and Maui (+1.3%) compared to the same period last year.

  A greater number of visitors came to vacation (+1.7%) and to visit with friends or relatives (+2.3%).

  Repeat visitors comprised 65.1 percent of the total visitors to Hawai‘i, versus 64.1 percent in year-to-date 2006.

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

  U.S. West: Year-to-date, total spending by U.S. West visitors increased 7.4 percent compared to the same period last year to $1.4 billion, the highest among the top four visitor markets.

  U.S. West visitors in the first four months of 2007 spent an average of $154 per person per day, an increase of 2 percent from the same period last year.

  U.S. West visitor days rose 5.3 percent due to a 6.6 percent growth in arrivals to 983,514 visitors. The average length of stay by these visitors was 9.38 days, compared to 9.50 days in the same period last year. Arrivals from the Pacific region and the Mountain region rose by 7 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively.

U.S. East: Total spending by U.S. East visitors year-to-date declined 2.7 percent to $1.2 billion, second highest among the four major visitor markets. Average daily spending by U.S. East visitors also ranked second at $181 per person.

U.S. East visitor days decreased 5.2 percent from year-to-date 2006, due to a 5.1 percent drop in visitor arrivals. The average length of stay was unchanged from the same period last year at 10.40 days. Arrivals were lower for the East South Central (-6.5%), New England (-4.8%), East North Central (-9.2%), South Atlantic (-6.7%), West North Central (-4.5%), Mid Atlantic (-.7%) and West South Central (-.1%) regions.

Japan: Japanese visitors spent a total of $631.2 million, down 5.5 percent compared to the same period last year. Japanese visitors continued to spend the most on a daily basis at $273 per person, an increase of 3.4 percent.

Japanese visitor days were 8.6 percent lower compared to the first four months of 2006, due to a 7.6 percent decrease in visitor arrivals to 415,975 visitors. The average length of stay was 5.56 days compared to 5.62 days in the same period last year.

Canada: Total expenditures by Canadian visitors rose 1.8 percent to $246.8 million for the first four months of 2007.

Canadian visitor days declined 6.9 percent due to a shorter length of stay (13.17 days compared to 14.26 days for year-to-date 2006) which offset a .7 percent growth in arrivals to 128,015 visitors.

• Per person per trip expenditures by MMA:

  Canadian visitors spent the most per trip ($1,928 per person) in the first four months of 2007, followed by visitors from the U.S. East ($1,884 per person), Japan ($1,518 per person) and the U.S. West ($1,444 per person).

Year-to-date 2007 Preliminary Cruise Visitor Statistics:

Total cruise visitor days rose 30.2 percent for the first four months of 2007. Contributing to this increase was a 30 percent growth in cruise visitors to 179,634 visitors. These passengers include those who flew to the state to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships visiting Hawai‘i. Of the ships in Hawai‘i year-to-date, there were 28 cruise ship arrivals, compared to 29 in the same period last year. Cruise ship arrival is the number of times cruise ships enter the State of Hawai‘i. A cruise ship may be counted multiple times if it leaves Hawai‘i then returns with new passengers within the same month.

Repeat visitors to Hawai‘i accounted for 59.3 percent of out-of-state cruise visitors, compared to 58.4 percent in year-to-date 2006. These cruise visitors stayed an average of 9.70 days in Hawai‘i, of which 6.16 days were spent on their cruise.

Technical Notes: 2006 air visitor data presented in this news release are the preliminary numbers and are subject to change. Detailed final statistics will be published in the 2006 Annual Visitor Research Report, available by mid-year 2007.

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