For Immediate Release: July 29, 2008
DBEDT Release News 08-20

June 2008 Visitor Expenditures Down 13.5 Percent

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

HONOLULU--Total expenditures by visitors who arrived by air declined 3.4 percent to $5.9 billion for the first half of 2008, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).

For the month of June 2008, total air visitor expenditures decreased 13.5 percent or $153.2 million, from the same month last year, to $982.4 million. The decline was due to a 13.6 percent drop in visitor arrivals by air (580,862) and slightly lower daily spending (down 2.1 percent to $177 per person).

Total visitor days for air and cruise visitors in June 2008 were off 12.2 percent compared to the same month last year. Total arrivals by air and cruise visitors decreased 14.2 percent from June 2007. The average length of stay by these visitors was 9.58 days, compared to 9.36 days a year ago.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from Canada rose 18.6 percent compared to June 2007. Visitations from the U.S. West (-16.5%), U.S. East (-17%) and Japan (-10%) were down from the same month last year.

"June's visitor statistics reflect the loss of two Norwegian Cruise Line ships, increased fuel costs and a continued soft travel market especially from the U.S. Mainland," said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert. "The Hawai‘i Visitors and Convention Bureau launched a $3 million campaign in June to help stimulate travel from the U.S. West to the islands, which had some positive impact in July and August. Even with all of the challenges we face in the tourism, I believe there are many opportunities to stimulate our base market, the U.S., while continuing to grow the Asia, Canada and Australia markets."

For the first half of 2008, total visitor days for air and cruise visitors decreased 4.2 percent. Total arrivals by air and cruise declined 5.2 percent from the same period last year to 3,551,035 visitors.

Year-to-date, arrivals by air totaled 3,499,442 visitors (-5%). The average daily spending was higher at $181 per person compared to $179 per person in the first half of 2007.

Other Highlights:

• In June 2008, visitations from many U.S. mainland regions recorded double digit declines compared to last June. Arrivals from the two largest regions, Pacific and Mountain were off by 17.1 percent and 15.6 percent, respectively.
• Even though arrivals from the Pacific region were down due to a 21.5 percent decrease in visitors from California, arrivals from Oregon (+3.5%) and Washington (+1.9%) showed continued growth.
• There were more repeat visitors from the U.S. West in June 2008 compared to the same month last year (80% versus 77.8%).
• Contributing to the 17 percent decline in U.S. East arrivals to Hawai‘i were 12,693 fewer U.S. East visitors who either came to Hawai‘i to board a cruise ship or who arrived by cruise ships, than in June 2007.
• Similar to their U.S. West counterparts, there were also more U.S. East repeat visitors in June 2008 (52.1%) compared to last June (50.7%).
• For the first half of 2008, Canadian arrivals rose 8 percent to 197,690 visitors. The Canadian market is seasonal, with much higher traffic during the winter and spring months (January through April, then October through December). In 2008, the visitor season stretched to May (+21.9%) and June (+18.6%) with double digit growth in both months compared to the same time last year.
• Daily spending by Japanese visitors rose 8.4 percent to $284 per person in June 2008, mainly due to increases in lodging, entertainment and shopping expenditures. However, lower visitor arrivals contributed to a 5.2 percent drop in total expenditures from this market to $143 million.

• All four of the larger islands reported lower visitor expenditures this month compared to June 2007. Visitor spending on O‘ahu declined 6.1 percent to $487.9 million, even though daily spending per person increased to $185 person, up from $181 per person last June. Daily spending on Kaua‘i and Hawai‘i Island were down 9.8 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. Daily spending on Maui was relatively unchanged (-.8%).
• O‘ahu experienced a 12.6 percent increase in Canadian visitors in June 2008. More Canadians stayed exclusively on O‘ahu and Maui compared to the same month last year. Fewer Canadians visiting multiple islands this June contributed to a lower average length of stay (11 days, down from 12.9 days in June 2007).

• Japanese arrivals decreased 10 percent in June 2008 affecting O‘ahu (-11.8%), Maui (-45.2%) and Hawai‘i Island (-11.5%). Japanese arrivals to Kaua‘i increased 6.6 percent compared to the same month last year. The average length of stay of those who came during the month was 5.52 days, compared to 5.67 days last June. The proportion of first-time travelers increased 4 percent.

• For the first half of 2008 arrivals from Canada declined on O‘ahu (-4.9%), Kaua‘i (-17.1%), Hawai‘i Island (-8.6%) and Lana‘i (-20.9%) but increased on Maui (+11%) and Moloka'i (+2.4%).
• Year-to-date, Japanese arrivals were lower on Kaua‘i (-22.5%), Maui (-19.9%), Hawai‘i Island (-9.5%) and O‘ahu (-5.6%) compared to first half of 2007.
• For the first six months of 2008, visitor arrivals were lower for all U.S. mainland regions compared to the same time last year.

June 2008 Cruise Ship Visitors

• No out-of-state cruise ships visited the islands in June 2008, compared to 4 ships which brought 4,188 visitors in the same month last year. Year-to-date, 51,593 visitors came by cruise ships, down 18.9 percent, while total visitor days declined 11.8 percent (See "Arrivals at a Glance" Table on page 2).
• For June 2008 total cruise visitors comprised of only 9,792 visitors who came by air and boarded a cruise ship, compared to June 2007 when a total of 35,720 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 9.80 days compared to 10.33 days in June 2007.

• The decline in total cruise visitors for June 2008 was mainly due to the departures of the Pride of Hawai‘i (in January 2008) and the Pride of Aloha (in mid May 2008).
• For the first half of 2008, a total of 148,574 visitors came by ship or by air to board cruise ships, 42.1 percent lower compared to the same period last year. Visitor days for all cruise visitors decreased 38 percent.

Technical Notes: 2007 visitor data presented in this news release are the final numbers and differ from the preliminary 2007 figures published in the monthly reports for January 2007 through May 2008. 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 2007 Annual Visitor Research Report, available by mid-August 2008. The report will be posted available at the Visitor Statistics website: http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats

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