For Immediate Release: February 25, 2009
DBEDT News Release 09-05

Note: January 2009 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

HONOLULU—Expenditures by visitors who came by air in January 2009 decreased 13.6 percent or $149.7 million compared to last January to $949.8 million, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).

The decline was due to a 12.4 percent drop in arrivals by air to 512,139 visitors and lower average daily visitor spending ($172 per person, from $178 per person in January 2008).

Total visitor days for air and cruise visitors in January 2009 fell 10.4 percent from the same month last year. Total arrivals for air and cruise visitors declined 12.5 percent from January 2008. However the average length of stay by these visitors was slightly longer at 10.79 days, compared to 10.54 days last January.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from the U.S. West decreased 14.3 percent while U.S. East arrivals were 14.9 percent less compared to January 2008. Japanese arrivals declined 12.7 percent while arrivals by air from Canada were 4.7 percent lower than last January.

"While these overall numbers were not unexpected, an unexpected bright spot in the January 2009 statistics was a 49.2 percent growth in Japanese honeymooners to the islands," said State Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert.

"This a very challenging time for everyone, because tourism is the backbone of our economy and when tourism falters it affects everyone in our state," said Wienert. "As we move forward our marketing message about the value of a Hawai‘i vacation is resonating across the mainland, resulting in bookings which have helped to offset the declines."

• The Middle Atlantic and New England regions showed the least impact with visitor arrivals down by 8.9 percent and 9.4 percent, respectively, compared to the U.S. average decline of 15.2 percent. Arrivals from Hawai‘i's largest regional market, Pacific was 15 percent lower compared to January 2008, pulled down by a 20.7 percent decrease from the state of California.
• Timeshare properties continued to gain in popularity. In January 2009, total visitors who stayed in timeshare properties rose 5.8 percent to 52,922 visitors. Furthermore the number of visitors who stayed only in timeshare units increased 9.7 percent from January 2008. All top four markets (+.6% U.S. West, +10.1% U.S. East, +12.6% Japan and +29.1% Canada) reported growth in visitors who stayed in timeshare properties compared to last January.
• Total visitors who came to honeymoon in the islands rose 12.1 percent from last January. Much of the increase was from the Japanese market with a 49.2 percent growth in honeymooners compared to January 2008.
• Group tours were impacted the most in January 2009, down 31.5 percent particularly from the U.S. East (-50.6%) and Japan (-25.3%). Decreases in arrivals by those who purchased package trips (-19.9%) or by those who made independent travel arrangements (-7.6%) were not as great.
• The percentage of repeat visitors from the U.S. West in January 2009 (83.5%) was higher compared to last January (82.2%) The average length of stay by all U.S. West visitors increased to 11.25 days from 10.78 days in January 2008.
• The percentage of repeat visitors from the U.S. East in January 2009 (64.2%) was also higher compared to last January (62.1%). U.S. East visitors this month stayed 12.52 days compared to 12.33 days in January 2008.
• Although Japanese visitor arrivals (-12.7%) and visitor days (-11%) declined by double digits in January 2009, the decline in total visitor spending by this group was smaller (-3.6% to $160.6 million) compared to the other markets due to higher daily spending (up from $284 per person per day to $309 per person per day in January 2009).
• There were more first-time visitors from Japan in January 2009 compared to the same month last year (42.4% versus 38.9%). Japanese visitors' length of stay was 5.88 days, compared to 5.77 days in January 2008.
• Similar to their U.S. counterparts, there were also more repeat visitors from Canada in January 2009 (70.3%) compared to last January (65.5%). Canadian visitors' length of stay in January 2009 was similar at 14.44 days and 14.40 days in January 2008.

• All islands reported lower visitor expenditures this month compared to January 2008. Total visitor expenditures on O‘ahu fell 5.9 percent to $461.7 million. Total expenditures on Maui declined 16.2 percent to $253 million; total visitor spending on Hawai‘i Island was down 32.2 percent to $125.6 million; while total visitor spending on Kaua‘i decreased 7.6 percent to $98.2 million.
• O‘ahu experienced less of a decline in visitor days from the U.S. West (-6.3%) and Japan (-6.6%) compared to the other islands.
• O‘ahu reported a 6.3 percent increase in visitors days by Canadians compared to January 2008.

• Among the major Hawaiian islands, Kaua‘i experienced the largest decline in total visitor arrivals from the top four visitor markets.
• Total air seats operated to Hawai‘i continued to decline in January 2009, down 17.4 compared to last January. The majority of the decrease were seats from the U.S. West (-17.9%), U.S. East (-24.8%), Canada (-20.5%) and to a lesser extent Japan (-9.1%). There were some additions to air seats out of Australia and New Zealand (+4.3%) compared to January 2008.

January 2009 Cruise Ship Visitors

• There were 2,445 fewer U.S. West visitors; and 10,891 fewer U.S. East visitors who either arrived by air to board cruise ship, or came by out-of-state cruise ships to Hawai‘i during the month compared to January 2008.

• In January 2009 a total of 19,322 cruise visitors came by air to board a cruise ship or arrived by cruise ship, compared to last January when a total of 37,699 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 12.47 days.
• The decline in cruise visitors for January 2009 largely resulted from the departures of the Pride of Hawai‘i (in February 2008) and the Pride of Aloha (in mid-May 2008).
• Six out-of-state cruise ships came to the islands in January 2009 with 10,102 visitors, compared to nine ships which brought 12,732 visitors in the same month last year. Total visitor days for those who came by cruise ships declined by 1.3 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