For Immediate Release: July 28, 2009

June 2009 Also Decreased

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

HONOLULU—Total air visitor spending for the first half of 2009 declined 15.1 percent from year-to-date 2008, to $4.97 billion, a drop of $882.2 million. Total expenditures by visitors who came by air in the month of June 2009 was $843.9 million, down 16.1 percent, $161.6 million, compared to last June, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority .

The drop in total visitor expenditures for June 2009 resulted from lower average daily visitor spending ($156 per person, down from $180 per person in June 2008) and a 5.2 percent decrease in visitor arrivals by air to 550,421 visitors.

Total visitor days in June 2009 fell 2.9 percent from the same month last year. The average length of stay by these visitors increased slightly to 9.85 days from 9.61 days in June 2008. Total arrivals by air decreased 5.2 percent to 550,421 visitors, continuing a decline since March 2008. No visitors came to the islands by cruise ships in both June 2009 and 2008.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from the U.S. West increased for the second consecutive month, up 4.9 percent from last June. Air arrivals from the U.S. East dropped 4 percent. Japanese air arrivals declined 32.8 percent, the largest decrease in arrivals for the Japanese market since May 2003 (-36.6%). Arrivals by air from Canada were 10.5 percent lower compared to June 2008.

"June's results were not unexpected, as global economic conditions are continuing to affect Hawai‘i's visitor industry and our economy," said State Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "Additionally, concerns about the H1N1 influenza contributed to the large decrease in international travel, especially visitor arrivals from Japan."

"The growth in visitors from the U.S. West in June was very positive news and a result of very attractive travel packaging and increased marketing efforts in our base market," Wienert said. "The health of the visitor industry and our economy through the remainder of 2009 will depend not only on visitor arrivals, but also on visitor spending."

"In response to the crisis facing our visitor industry, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, has allocated 86 percent of its budget to support marketing-related programs beginning in July 2009. This includes aggressive marketing campaigns to stimulate travel to Hawai‘i, especially from our two core markets - U.S. West and Japan," said Mike McCartney, president and chief executive officer of Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

"We are optimistic by the increase in arrivals from the U.S. West for the second consecutive month. With heightened marketing efforts and scheduled blitzes on the West Coast and in the Pacific Northwest, we are hopeful that this trend will continue through the fall. In Japan, we have launched new consumer marketing campaigns to generate bookings. We have already begun to see some initial results with 23 extra flights added in July and August and eight additional flights added during ‘silver week' in September to accommodate demand," said McCartney.

For the first half of 2009, total visitor days for air and cruise visitors declined 8.7 percent. Total arrivals by air and cruise fell 9.8 percent from the same period last year to 3,213,600 visitors.

Year-to-date 2009 arrivals by air totaled 3,161,873 visitors, down 9.9 percent from a year ago. Average per person per day spending declined to $165 per person compared to $178 in the first half of 2008.

• Arrivals from the Pacific region, rose 6.6 percent from June 2008, boosted by more visitors from California (+5.3%) and Washington (+18.1%). Arrivals from the West South Central region also increased (+5.1%) but all other regions were lower compared to last June. The largest drop was in the East North Central (-10.2%) region.
• More U.S. West visitors went to O‘ahu (+4.5%), Maui (+2.3%) and Hawai‘i Island (+6.1%) as part of their trip to the islands compared to June 2008. An even higher number of U.S. West visitors stayed only on Hawai‘i Island (+12.2%), O‘ahu (+8.6%), Maui (+5.8%) or only on Kaua‘i (+4.3%) during their visit compared to the same time last year.
• More U.S. West visitors came to vacation (+8.4%) and to honeymoon (+11.8%) in June 2009.
• The average length of stay by U.S. West visitors was 9.81 days, compared to 10.15 days in June 2008.
• Hotels (+5.5%) and timeshare properties (+4%) experienced heavier visitor traffic from the U.S. West in June 2009 compared to the same month last year.
• The percentage of repeat visitors from the U.S. West in June 2009 (79.3%) was slightly lower than in June 2008 (79.9%).
• U.S. East arrivals were lower on Kaua‘i (-15.1%), Hawai‘i Island (-10.4%), Maui (-8.5%) and O‘ahu (-3.8%) compared to last June. More U.S. East visitors stayed only on O‘ahu (+4.1%) or only on Maui (+4.7%) than in June 2008.
• The percentage of repeat visitors from the U.S. East in June 2009 (53.7%) was higher than in June 2008 (52.1%).
• Daily spending by Japanese visitors in June 2009 averaged $275 per person, down from $296 per person last June. Lower daily spending and decreased arrivals caused a 34 percent reduction in total expenditures by Japanese visitors to $100.4 million in June 2009.
• All islands suffered double-digit losses in Japanese arrivals in June 2009 compared to a year ago. The largest decline in Japanese visitors was on Kaua‘i, down 58.7 percent from June 2008.
• Fewer Japanese came to honeymoon (-10.1%) in June 2009 compared to last June. However, for the first half of 2009, there were 107,609 Japanese honeymooners in the islands, 8.8 percent higher than in the same period last year.
• There were also more repeat visitors from Japan in June 2009 than in June 2008 (54.6% versus 52.3%). Japanese visitors' length of stay rose to 5.84 days, from 5.52 days last June.
• Growth in Canadian visitors varied by island. Visitations increased on Kaua‘i (+28.3%) and Hawai‘i Island (+7.2%) but declined on O‘ahu (-19.2%) and Maui (-10.3%). Significantly fewer Canadians visited multiple islands in June 2009 (-18.6%).
• Canadian visitors' length of stay in June 2009 rose to 11.84 days, from 11.01 days in the same month last year.

• All islands reported lower visitor expenditures this month compared to June 2008. Total visitor expenditures on O‘ahu fell 21.4 percent to $387.8 million. Total expenditures on Maui declined 5.9 percent to $245.8 million; total visitor spending on Hawai‘i Island dropped 19.9 percent to $104.3 million; while total visitor spending on Kaua‘i decreased 10.6 percent to $97.3 million.
• The decline in Japanese visitor days for O‘ahu (-27%) contributed to the weakened expenditures on O‘ahu.

• Year-to-date, among the top four visitor markets, Japan had the largest declines in visitor arrivals on Kaua‘i and on Maui; the U.S. East had the largest drop in arrivals on Hawai‘i Island while Canada had the largest decrease in arrivals on O‘ahu.
• Total air seats to Hawai‘i for June 2009 was down 1 percent compared to last June. Increases in seat capacity from Other Asia (+27%), Japan (+3.1%) and the U.S. West (+1.4%) were offset by fewer seats from Canada (-34.2%), Australia/New Zealand (-15.3%) and the U.S. East (-12.8%).
• For the first six months of 2009, total air seats to Hawai‘i decreased 9.8 percent due to fewer seats from Canada (-24.1%), the U.S. East (-20.5%), Australia/New Zealand (-11.8%), the U.S. West (-9.1%) and Japan (-3.6%) which were partially offset by more seats from Other Asia (+13.5%)

June 2009 Cruise Ship Visitors

• A total of 9,644 cruise visitors came by air to board a Hawai‘i home-ported cruise ship in June 2009, down 1.5 percent from the same month last year. No out-of-state cruise ships visited the islands in either June 2009 or June 2008.
• Year-to-date 2009, a total of 111,214 visitors came by cruise ship or by air to board cruise ships, 25.8 percent lower compared to the same period last year. Visitor days for all cruise visitors decreased 28.7 percent.
• In the first half of 2009, 51,727 visitors came aboard 30 out-of-state cruise ships. This is 2.0 percent fewer compared 52,809 visitors aboard 34 cruise ships that came to the islands in the first half of 2008. Total visitor days for those who came by cruise ships declined 5.7 percent (See "Arrivals at a Glance" Table on page 2) compared to year-to-date 2008.

June 2009 Cruise Visitor Highlights

Technical Notes: 2008 visitor data presented in this news release are the final numbers and differ from the preliminary 2008 figures published in the monthly reports for January 2009 through May 2009. Figures were revised to reflect additional passenger and immigration data which were obtained after publication of the monthly reports. Detailed final statistics will be published in the 2008 Annual Visitor Research Report, available by mid-August 2009. The report will be made available on the Visitor Statistics website: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/

For more information, contact:
Sharon Freitas, Hawai‘i Tourism Authority
Phone: (808) 973-2272
Email: sfreitas@hawaiitourismauthority.org

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