For Immediate Release: October 27, 2006
DBEDT Release News 06-31

Note: September 2006 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

Year-to-date Total Visitor Expenditures Rose 3.8 percent to $9 Billion

HONOLULU--Buoyed by record domestic arrivals, total spending by U.S. West and U.S. East visitors combined, rose 3.7 percent to $615.3 million in September 2006 according to preliminary data released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT).

For the first nine months of the year, total visitor expenditures grew 3.8 percent to $9 billion. Spending by Canadian visitors increased (+10%) for the month of September, but Japanese visitors spending declined (-13.3%) causing total visitor expenditures to drop 1.6 percent to $910.7 million. The average daily spending by all visitors who came this September was $189 per person, down from $194 per person in September 2005.

Total visitor days increased slightly by.9 percent from September 2005. Total arrivals for the month stabilized as a 10.6 percent decline in international arrivals was offset by a 4.8 percent growth from the domestic market. 402,483 visitors arrived on domestic flights, setting a new record for the month of September. The average length of stay by all visitors in the islands was up slightly by .9 percent to 8.61 days.

Total visitor days and total arrivals through September maintained levels achieved in the same period last year by a .2 percent and a .1 percent growth, respectively. Domestic arrivals increased 2.5 percent to a new nine-month record of 4,136,880 visitors while international arrivals declined 5.9 percent. Arrivals from Canada rose 9.8 percent but Japanese arrivals were 9.2 percent lower compared to year-to-date 2005.

"Our visitor industry continues to perform well," said State Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "We are especially pleased that the domestic and Canadian markets continue to flourish.

The Big Island (+14.4%), Maui (+7%), Kauai (+7.2%), Lanai (+15.2%) and Molokai (+7%) reported increased visitor arrivals in September 2006. Total visitor spending rose on Maui (+2.4%), Kauai (+7.7%) and the Big Island (+1.8%).

Of the total number of visitors who came during the month, 36,844 visitors either flew to the state to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships visiting Hawaii, a 26.7 percent increase from September 2005. Cruise visitor days in September 2006 and for year-to-date 2006 grew 29.7 percent and 38.4 percent, respectively.

Year-to-date 2006 preliminary visitor statistics:

• Total visitor expenditures: Visitors spent a total of $9 billion in the first nine months of 2006, up 3.8 percent compared to the same period last year, with increases from the U.S. West, U.S. East and Canadian visitor markets. Total visitor spending by Japanese visitors decreased 4.9 percent.

  Year-to-date visitor spending on Oahu totaled $4.1 billion (-1.4%), followed by Maui at $2.6 billion (+13.6%), the Big Island at $1.2 billion (-2.4%) and Kauai at $932.4 million (+9.7%).

• Total air visitors: Total visitor days rose .2 percent, supported by higher arrivals from the domestic market. The average length of stay by all visitors of 9.12 days was similar to the same time last year.

  Visitor arrivals were higher on Lanai (+11.9%), Kauai (+8.2%), the Big Island (+6.6%), Molokai (+5.4%) and Maui (+4.9%) compared to the same period last year.

  A greater number of visitors came to vacation (+1.2%), for meetings (+3.8%), incentives (+5.8%) and other business (+3.1%).

  Repeat visitors accounted for 63.2 percent of the total visitors to Hawaii, versus 62.5 percent for year-to-date 2005.

• Air visitors from the top four major market areas (MMAs):

  U.S. West: Total spending by U.S. West visitors reached $3.4 billion, 8.9 percent higher than year-to-date 2005. This group of visitors spent an average of $156 per person per day, a 6.1 percent increase from the same period last year.

  U.S. West visitor days rose 2.7 percent as arrivals rose 3.8 percent to 2,377,588 visitors for the first nine months of 2006. The Mountain region led the growth with a 14.3 percent increase in domestic arrivals. The average length of stay by U.S. West visitors was 9.37 days, slightly lower than 9.46 days one year ago.

  U.S. East: Total spending by U.S. East visitors increased 1.4 percent compared to the first nine months of 2005, to $2.8 billion, the second highest among the four major visitor markets. The average daily spending was $180 per person per day, the second highest among the top four visitor markets.

  U.S. East visitor days decreased (-.8%) compared to year-to-date 2005, due to a slightly shorter average length of stay (-.5% to 10.26 days). Overall, arrivals were steady (-.2%) with growth from the West South Central (+6%) and South Atlantic (+2.9%) regions offsetting decreases from the East North Central (-1.9%), East South Central (-1.3%) and New England (-6.2%) regions.

Japan: Japanese visitors spent a total of $1.6 billion in the first nine months of 2006, 4.9 percent lower compared to the same period last year. Japanese visitors continued to spend the most on a daily basis at $265 per person, an increase of 5.8 percent.

Japanese visitor days decreased 10.2 percent, year-to-date, due to a 9.2 percent drop in visitor arrivals to 1,032,531 visitors and a decrease of 1.1 percent in the average length of stay to 5.68 days.

Canada: Even though year-to-date average daily spending by Canadian visitors ranked last among the top four major visitor markets at $135 per person per day, total expenditures rose 12.8 percent to $346 million in the first nine months of 2006.

Canadian visitor days increased 12.1 percent, supported by a 9.8 percent growth in arrivals to 193,586 visitors. The average length of stay was the longest among the top four visitor markets, at 13.25 days, up from 12.99 days in year-to-date 2005.

• Per person per trip expenditures by MMA:

  In the first nine months of 2006, U.S. East visitors spent the most per trip ($1,843 per person), followed by visitors from Canada ($1,788 per person), Japan ($1,506 per person) and the U.S. West ($1,459 per person).

Year-to-date 2006 Preliminary Cruise Visitor Statistics:

Total cruise visitor days rose 38.4 percent in the first nine months of 2006. Contributing to this increase was a 35.6 percent growth in cruise visitors to 280,013 visitors, including those who arrived by air to board cruise ships and those who came on the ships. These visitors were aboard 39 cruise ships including three U.S. flagged ships home ported in Hawaii, the Pride of Aloha, the Pride of Hawaii and the Pride of America.

Repeat visitors to Hawaii comprised 57.1 percent of out-of-state cruise visitors, compared to 53.2 percent in the same period last year. These cruise visitors stayed an average of 9.80 days in Hawaii, of which 6.34 days were spent on their cruise.

Technical Notes: 2005 air visitor data presented in this news release are the final 2005 numbers. Detailed final statistics are published in the 2005 Annual Visitor Research Report, available at the DBEDT website: www.hawaii.gov/dbedt.

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

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