For Immediate Release: October 27, 2008
DBEDT News Release 08-34

September 2008 Visitor Expenditures Down 15.5 Percent

Note: September 2008 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

HONOLULU--Total expenditures by visitors who arrived by air decreased 7.4 percent or $692.5 million to $8.7 billion in the first three quarters of 2008, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).

For the month of September 2008, total air visitor expenditures were down 15.5 percent or $141.2 million, from the same month last year, to $770 million. The decline was caused by a 19.3 percent drop in visitor arrivals by air to 450,511 visitors. The average daily spending was $189 per person, relatively unchanged from September 2007.

Total visitor days for air and cruise visitors in September 2008 fell 15.6 percent from the same month last year. Total arrivals by air and cruise visitors declined 19.5 percent from September 2007. However the average length of stay by these visitors was slightly longer at 9.06 days, compared to 8.65 days last September.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from Canada declined 6 percent compared to September 2007 after six consecutive months of positive growth. Visitations from the U.S. West fell 21.5 percent, second highest decline behind last month. Arrivals from the U.S. East were down 26.2 percent, the largest decrease since September 2001(-35.3%). Japanese arrivals decreased 19.8 percent.

"September visitor statistics are not unexpected and reflect the continued national and global economic challenges that are affecting tourism worldwide," said State Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "Additionally, the decrease in cruise ships this month greatly impacted arrivals to the neighbor islands, in particular Kaua'i and Hawai'i Island. In total there were 25,777 fewer visitors who either came by cruise ship or came by air to board cruise ships in Hawai'i compared to September 2007."

"The Canadian market, which has been growing steadily since 2006, also experienced a slight decrease in arrivals this month. Compounding the decline was an early Labor Day which fell on September 1 as visitors arriving for the holiday weekend were counted in August." said Wienert.

For the first three quarters of 2008, total visitor days for air and cruise visitors dropped 7.7 percent. Total arrivals by air and cruise declined 9.3 percent from the same period last year to 5,234,685 visitors.

Year-to-date, arrivals by air totaled 5,169,845 visitors, down 9.1 percent compared to the same period last year. The average daily spending was $181 per person up slightly from $180 per person in the first nine months of 2007.

Other Highlights:

• All U.S. mainland regions showed double-digit declines in visitor arrivals in September 2008 compared to the same month last year. Arrivals from the two largest regional markets, Pacific and Mountain decreased 21.8 percent and 22.1 percent, respectively.
• Timeshare properties continued to grow in popularity with U.S. visitors to the islands. A higher percentage of U.S. West visitors in September 2008 stayed in timeshare properties (17.5%) compared to those in the same month last year (15.5%). Nearly 13 percent of U.S. East visitors stayed in timeshare in September 2008, up from 10.6 percent last September.
• There were more repeat visitors from the U.S. West in September 2008 (78.4%), compared to the same month last year (76.5%). The average length of stay by all U.S. West visitors increased to 9.28 days from 9.09 days in September 2007.
• The percentage of repeat visitors from the U.S. East in September 2008 (50.5%), were also higher compared to last September (47.1%). U.S. East visitors this month stayed 10.13 days, up from 9.98 days in September 2007.
• The 6 percent decline in Canadian visitor arrivals in September 2008 was the first decrease since January 2008 (-2.6%). For the first three quarters of 2008, Canadian arrivals rose 7.7 percent to 247,920 visitors. The Canadian market has been growing steadily since 2006 with only three months of decreased arrivals out of the last 33 months.
• Fewer Canadian visitors who came in September 2008 stayed in hotels (-10.6%) compared to last September. Year-to-date, Canadian visitors who stayed in hotels declined slightly (-.3%) while those who stayed in condominiums (+20%) and timeshare (+15.2%) properties grew by double digits compared to the first nine months of 2007.
• There were more repeat visitors from Canada in September 2008 (49.9%) compared to the same month last year (48.8%). Canadian visitors in September 2008 stayed longer at 11.74 days, compared to 10.62 days in September 2007.
• Daily spending by Japanese visitors increased from $276 per person to $285 per person in September 2008. However, lower visitor arrivals contributed to a 15.9 percent drop in total expenditures from this market to $152.2 million.
• There were also more repeat visitors from Japan in September 2008 compared to the same month last year (60.3% versus 56%). Japanese visitors stayed 5.74 days in September 2008 compared to 5.66 days in the same month last year.
• For the first three quarters of 2008, 133,636 Japanese visitors came to honeymoon in the islands, up 3 percent from year-to-date 2007.

• The loss of two Hawai'i home-ported cruise ships impacted arrivals on all islands in September 2008, in particular on Kaua'i where 68.1 percent of the losses in arrivals (-29.2%) were attributable to less domestic cruise ship visitors. Similarly, 54.7 percent of Hawai'i Island's, 39.9 percent of Maui's and 25.9 percent of O'ahu's decline in arrivals were due to decreased cruise visitor counts.
• All islands reported lower visitor expenditures this month compared to September 2007. Total expenditures on O'ahu declined 7 percent to $424.3 million. Total expenditures on Maui decreased 23.1 percent to $178.8 million. Despite a 29.2 percent drop in arrivals, visitor expenditure on Kaua'i fell only 5.1 percent to $88.4 million due to higher daily spending (+9% to $179 per person) by those who came in September 2008. Total expenditures on Hawai'i Island decreased 41.3 percent to $70 million, due to a 31.5 percent decline in arrivals and significantly lower daily spending (-24.1% to $137 per person).

• For the month of September 2008 the decline in arrivals by U.S. West (-34.8%) and U.S. East (-40.1%) visitors was greater on Hawai'i Island than on the other larger islands.

• For the first three quarters of 2008 arrivals from Canada declined on O'ahu (-4.8%), Kaua'i (-18.4%), Hawai'i Island (-8.3%), Lana'i (-15.7%) and Moloka'i (-9.8%) but increased on Maui (+7.4%).
• Year-to-date, Japanese arrivals were lower on Kaua'i (-23.1%), Maui (-19.8%), Hawai'i Island (-13.6%) and O'ahu (-8.8%) compared to the first nine months of 2007.
• For the first three quarters of 2008, visitor arrivals were lower for all U.S. mainland regions except for Washington state (+5.6%) and Oregon (+.5%), compared to the same period last year.

September 2008 Cruise Ship Visitors

September 2008 Cruise Visitor Highlights

• The decrease in U.S. West and U.S. East visitors was partially due to fewer cruise ship visitors in the islands compared to last September. There were 7,865 fewer U.S. West visitors; and 12,513 fewer U.S. East visitors who either arrived by air to board cruise ship, or came by cruise ships to Hawai'i during the month compared to September 2007.
• In September 2008 a total of 19,802 cruise visitors came by air to board a cruise ship or arrived by cruise ship, compared to September 2007 when a total of 45,579 visitors came by air to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships to Hawai'i. The average length of stay by all cruise visitors during the month was 10.02 days.
• The decline in cruise visitors for September 2008 largely resulted from the departures of the Pride of Hawai'i (in February 2008) and the Pride of Aloha (in mid May 2008). There was also one less ship tour from the Pride of America in September 2008 compared to 2007. This ship tour began at the end of August 2008 and was counted in that month.
• Also impacting the cruise visitor count was fewer visits from foreign flagged ships. Seven out-of-state cruise ships came to the islands in September 2008 with 10,540 visitors, compared to nine ships which brought 14,215 visitors in the same month last year.
• For the first nine months of 2008, a total of 192,273 visitors came by cruise ship or by air to board cruise ships, 48.5 percent lower compared to the same period last year. Visitor days for all cruise visitors decreased 45.8 percent.
• Year-to-date, 64,840 visitors came by cruise ships, down 23.7 percent, while total visitor days for those who came by cruise ships declined by 19.5 percent (See "Arrivals at a Glance" Table on page 2).

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

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