For Immediate Release: August 26, 2009

Visitor Arrivals Increased for the First Time Since February 2008 by 1.3 Percent

Note: July2009 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

HONOLULU—Total spending by air visitors for the first seven months of 2009 decreased $1.1 billion or 16 percent from year-to-date 2008, to $5.8 billion. Total expenditures by air visitors in the month of July 2009 was $893 million, down $126.7 million or 12.4 percent from last July, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Despite a 1.3 percent increase in arrivals by air to 621,590 visitors, total visitor expenditure for July 2009 declined due to lower average daily spending by these visitors ($150 per person, down from $176 per person in July 2008).

Total visitor days for air and cruise visitors in July 2009 rose 2.8 percent from the same month last year, boosted by a 1.5 percent growth in total arrivals by air and cruise ships to 624,140 visitors. The average length of stay by these visitors was 9.58 days, compared to 9.46 days in July 2008.

The 1.3 percent growth in total arrivals was the first increase since February 2008 (+3.5%). Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from U.S. West rose for the third consecutive month, up 7.7 percent from last July. Air arrivals from U.S. East were down slightly by 0.3 percent. Even though there was a spike in visitor arrivals surrounding the Japanese Emperor's visit in mid-July, Japanese air arrivals ended the month down 9.2 percent. Arrivals by air from Canada were 3.5 percent lower compared to July 2008.

"Continued growth in arrivals from U.S. West benefitted all islands in July," said State Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "Increased arrivals reflect the attractive pricing being offered by Hawai‘i hotels, travel partners and other visitor industry businesses, which is stimulating travel. However, the byproduct of this aggressive pricing is reduced visitor spending."

"Per person per day spending year-to-date, through July, has not only decreased in lodging but food and beverage, entertainment and recreation, and shopping are also victims of decreased visitor spending. However, transportation, primarily for inter-island travel and rental car purchases, increased in all market segments except Japan," continued Wienert. "Moving forward tourism's recovery cannot be measured by arrivals, but relies on increased spending by our visitors."

"To put things in perspective, leisure travel is down everywhere in the world right now and Hawai‘i is actually doing better than a lot of our competition," said Mike McCartney, president and CEO for the HTA. "That being said, and understanding that we are in a price-driven economy right now, we are working very hard to bring in business to Hawai‘i by increasing arrivals and market share. We are encouraged by the increase in arrivals from our biggest market, U.S. West, for the third consecutive month and are optimistic that this trend will continue with aggressive marketing efforts planned for the fall. We are also putting a lot of marketing resources toward the high-spending Japan market where we are seeing an increase in independent travelers."

"In September, eight flights are being added between Japan and Hawai‘i to accommodate demand for travel during silver week," added McCartney. "West Jet also plans to increase their number of weekly flights this fall and Air Canada will add additional flights between Hawai‘i and Calgary this winter."

For the first seven months of 2009, total visitor days for air and cruise visitors decreased 7 percent. Total arrivals by air and cruise declined 8.1 percent from the same period last year to 3,837,740 visitors.

Year-to-date 2009 arrivals by air totaled 3,783,463, a decrease of 8.2 percent compared to a year ago. Average per person per day spending declined to $160 per person compared to $177 in the first seven months of 2008.

Other Highlights:

• Daily spending by visitors from all markets declined by double digits in July 2009 compared to the same month last year. As a result, total expenditures from all market segments were also significantly down from July 2008.
• In July 2009, more visitors went to the neighbor islands only and did not visit O‘ahu, up 5 percent from last July.
• Many more visitors stayed in timeshare properties (+12.4%) in July 2009 compared to the same month last year. The number of Japanese visitors who stayed in timeshare more than doubled (+120.4%). Canadian (+31.6%), U.S. West (+8.9%), and U.S. East (+6.7%) visitors who stayed in timeshare properties also increased compared to July 2008.
• The total number of visitors who stayed with friends or relatives grew 17.3 percent from last July, due to double digit increases from U.S. West (+22.6%) and U.S. East (+12.4%) and a 7.1 percent growth from Canada.
• Significantly fewer visitors (-29.9%) purchased group tours compared to July 2008 due to double digit decreases from U.S. West (-56.7%), U.S. East (-48.6%), Japanese (-22.1%) and Canadian (-31.7%) visitors.
• Arrivals from the Pacific region, increased 8.2 percent from July 2008, thanks to more visitors from Alaska (+61%), Washington (+30.7%), Oregon (+12.9%) and California (+4.2%). Arrivals from West South Central (+16.8%), Mountain (+4.4%) and West North Central (+2.9%) regions also increased compared to July 2008.
• The growth in U.S. West visitors in July 2009 was driven by more independent travelers from this market, up 8.1 percent compared to last July. Independent travelers comprised 74.9 percent of all U.S. West visitors in July 2009.
• More U.S. West visitors came to honeymoon (+12.5%) and to visit friends or relatives (+17.5%) in July 2009.
• The average length of stay by U.S. West visitors was shorter at 9.58 days, compared to 9.83 days in July 2008.
• Hotels (+8.5%) experienced heavier visitor traffic from U.S. West in July 2009 compared to the same month last year.
• More U.S. East visitors came to honeymoon (+1.3%) but less attended conventions (-23.8%) in the islands compared to July 2008.
• Considerably more Japanese visitors traveled independently (+18.3%) in July 2009. The share of independent travelers rose to 21.4 percent of total Japanese visitors in July 2009, compared to 16.4 percent in the same month last year.
• More Japanese came to get married (+30.5%) and to attend conventions in the islands (+27%) in July 2009 compared to the same month last year.
• In addition to the significant increase in timeshare usage, more Japanese visitors also stayed in condominium properties (+9.7%) but fewer stayed in hotels (-10.8%) compared to July 2008.

• All islands reported lower visitor expenditures this month compared to July 2008. Total visitor expenditures on O‘ahu declined 13.2 percent to $443.4 million. Total expenditures on Maui fell 10 percent to $233.7 million; total visitor spending on Hawai‘i Island decreased 11.5 percent to $115.4 million; while total visitor spending on Kaua‘i fell 11.1 percent to $95.4 million.

• More U.S. West visitors went to O‘ahu (+10.8%), Hawai‘i Island (+9.3%), and Maui (+4.3%) as part of their trip to the islands compared to July 2008. Growth was even stronger in the number of U.S. West visitors who stayed exclusively on O‘ahu (+13.8%), Hawai‘i Island (+12.8%), or Maui (+6.9%) compared to the same time last year.
• U.S. East arrivals were lower on all islands compared to last July. However, U.S. East visitors who stayed exclusively on Maui (+9.3%), Hawai‘i Island (+6.3%) or O‘ahu (+2.5%) was up.
• Japanese arrivals to Kaua‘i (-66.5%), Maui (-21.5%) and O‘ahu (-10.2%) fell by double-digits in July 2009 while Hawai‘i Island was down 1.8 percent. Considerably fewer Japanese visitors went to multiple islands (-22.2%) compared to July 2008.
• Canadian arrivals increased on Kaua‘i (+1.3%) but declined on O‘ahu (-12.9%), Hawai‘i Island (-10.1%) and Maui (-7.7%).

• Year-to-date, among the top four visitor markets, Japan had the largest declines in visitor arrivals on Kaua‘i and on Maui; 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 July 2009 rose slightly (+0.9%) compared to last July. Fewer scheduled seats from Canada (-33.6%), Australia/New Zealand (-11.9%), U.S. East (-11.8%) and domestic charters seats (-20.7%) were offset by increases in scheduled seats from Other Asia (+24.6%), U.S. West (+4.3%), Japan (+3.9%) and international charter seats (+212%). Included in the international charter seats was a one-time flight from Australia and two charter flights by Air Tahiti Nui. In addition, there was increased service by All Nippon Airways which will continue in August 2009.
• For the first seven months of 2009, total air seats to Hawai‘i declined 8.3 percent due to fewer seats from Canada (-24.9%), U.S. East (-19.2%), Australia/New Zealand (-11.9%), U.S. West (-7.2%) and Japan (-2.5%) which were partially offset by more seats from Other Asia (+15.1%)

July 2009 Cruise Ship Visitors

• A total of 12,453 visitors came by cruise ships or arrived by air to board a Hawai‘i home-ported cruise ship in July 2009, up 17.7 percent from the same month last year. This was the largest monthly increase since September 2007 (+21.7%). Except for a 3.5 percent growth in April 2009, total cruise visitors had been declining from January 2008 to June 2009.

JULY 2009 Cruise Visitor Highlights

• Two out-of-state cruise ships came to the islands in July 2009 with 2,550 visitors. These ships carried more than twice the number of visitors who came on two ships in July 2008 (1,085 visitors).
• Year-to-date 2009, a total of 123,667 visitors came by cruise ship or by air to board cruise ships, 22.9 percent lower compared to the same period last year. Visitor days for all cruise visitors decreased 25.7 percent.
• In the first seven months of 2009, 54,277 visitors came aboard 32 out-of-state cruise ships. This was a slight increase of 0.7 percent compared 53,894 visitors aboard 36 cruise ships that came to the islands in the first seven of 2008. Total visitor days for those who came by cruise ships declined 3.4 percent (See "Arrivals at a Glance" Table on page 2) compared to year-to-date 2008.

Technical Notes:
Visitor expenditure statistics from March through June 2009 were revised and are in the July 2009 spreadsheet file available on the DBEDT website: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/tourism

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) today also announced the release of the 2008 Annual Visitor Research Report, which presents the final detailed statistics on the Hawai‘i visitor industry's performance in 2008 and provides a comprehensive comparison with 2007 visitor data.

The report includes visitor characteristics and expenditures by major market areas (U.S. West, U.S. East, Japan, Canada, Europe, Oceania, Other Asia and Latin America), by select countries, by purpose of trip, by accommodation, by first-time/repeat visitor status, and by island. Detailed spending categories by major market areas and by island are also reported. Also presented is a profile of Hawai‘i's cruise visitors and their spending characteristics, visitor room inventory, hotel occupancy and room rates, and air seat capacity to Hawai‘i data.

The 2008 Annual Visitor Research Report is available in Adobe Acrobat format on the DBEDT Web Site: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/visitor-research
A limited number of the printed reports will be available in mid-September 2009 for pick up free of charge, at:

DBEDT - Research & Economic Analysis Division
One Capitol District Building
250 South Hotel Street, Suite 435
Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96813
Phone: (808) 586-2466

Mailing requests must provide DBEDT with self-addressed pre-paid postage.

For further information on the reports, contact the DBEDT's Research and Economic Analysis Division at (808) 586-2466 or trb@dbedt.hawaii.gov.

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