For Immediate Release: October 27, 2004
DBEDT Release News 04-33

Note: September 2004 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

Domestic Arrivals Best September on Record

HONOLULU - Total visitor days for September 2004 rose 7.2 percent compared to the same month last year, according to data released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).

Contributing to the increase was continued growth in visitor arrivals from both the domestic and international markets. Domestic arrivals reached a new record for the month of September, rising 11.8 percent to 350,326 visitors. International visitor arrivals rose 5.4 percent. Arrivals from Japan were relatively unchanged compared to September 2003 while Canadian visitor arrivals surged 20.5 percent.

Total visitor expenditures rose 9.6 percent to $783.3 million for this September and increased 6.5 percent to $7.7 billion on a year-to-date basis.

"To meet the strong travel demand from the U.S. domestic market, especially from the U.S. East, there has been an increase in air seat capacity to the islands," said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert. "Year-to-date statistics show a 5.9 percent growth in scheduled air seats from the U.S. West and a 36.5 percent jump in scheduled air seats from non-stop direct flights from the U.S. East."

Year-to-Date 2004 Air Visitor Statistics are presented below:

• Total air visitors: Total visitor days for the first nine months of 2004 rose 4.6 percent, compared to the same period last year to 47.4 million. Total arrivals increased 8.7 percent to 5,198,945 visitors with an average length of stay of 9.11 days.

• Domestic air visitors: Domestic visitor days were 3.6 percent higher compared to year-to-date 2003, due to growth in arrivals (+7.1%) that offset a shorter length of stay (9.86 days, versus 10.19 days in year-to-date 2003). The number of U.S. visitors, which comprised 91.8 percent of total domestic arrivals were 6.1 percent higher compared to the same period last year. Total domestic arrivals include U.S. residents and international visitors who came to Hawaii on domestic flights.
• International air visitors: International visitor days increased 8.1 percent due to a 12.8 percent growth in international arrivals to 1,500,126 visitors. Those who came during the first nine months of 2004 stayed an average of 7.27 days.
• Total repeat/first-time visitors: Repeat visitors comprised 61.7 percent of the total visitors to Hawaii comparable to the 62.8 percent for year-to-date 2003.
• Arrivals by Island: Visitor arrivals increased on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island compared to the same period last year.

• Purpose of trip: More visitors came to vacation (+10.1%), honeymoon (+9.3%), get married (+8.5%), visit friends or relatives (+8.3%) and for other business (+12%) compared to year-to-date 2003.
• Air visitors from the top four major market areas (MMAs):

  U.S. West: U.S. West visitor days rose .6 compared to the same period last year thanks to a 4.3 percent growth in arrivals to 2,077,664 visitors. The average length of stay was 9.5 days. More of these visitors came to vacation, honeymoon, get married, and visit friends or relatives compared to the same period last year.

  U.S. East: Increased arrivals from the U.S. East (+9.2% to 1,389,933 visitors) contributed to a 5.8 percent growth in visitor days compared to year-to-date 2003. The average length of stay was 10.24 days. Similar to their U.S. West counterpart, more U.S. East visitors came to honeymoon, get married, vacation and visit friends or relatives.

  Japan: Japanese visitor days rose 11.6 percent as a total of 1,080,769 visitors came during the first nine months of 2004. The average length of stay by these visitors was 5.83 days. More Japanese visitors came to vacation, get married, honeymoon, for meetings, conventions and incentives, and to visit friends and relatives compared to year-to-date 2003.

  Canada: Canadian visitor days increased 1.1 percent. A total of 154,183 Canadian visitors came to the islands, 1 percent more than year-to-date 2003. The average length of stay was 13.30 days.

September 2004 and Year-to-Date Cruise visitors:

A total of 21,180 out-of-state visitors, including those who arrived by air to board cruise ships and those who came with the ships, toured the islands in September 2004. These visitors were passengers of two Hawaii-home ported ships, the Norwegian Wind and the Pride of Aloha, and three out-of-state cruise ships. The number of visitors this September was 34.9 percent higher than the same month last year when four out-of-state cruise ships and one Hawaii home-ported ship, the Norwegian Star, carried 15,704 out-of-state visitors around the islands.

Year-to-date, there were a total of 48 cruise ship arrivals, carrying 150,859 out-of-state visitors. This was 11.1 percent below the same period last year, which saw 50 cruise ship arrivals and 169,700 passengers.

The decrease in cruise visitors was mainly due to a shift in scheduling, which brought fewer out-of-state cruise ships with less passenger capacity to the islands in the first half of 2004. Additionally, the Norwegian Star was the only Hawaii-home ported ship in the first four months of 2004, compared to the same period last year when both the Norwegian Star and the Norwegian Wind were based in Hawaii. In May 2004, the Norwegian Wind returned to Hawaii but the Norwegian Star departed.

Included in the September statistics were passengers from the Hawaii home based cruise ship the Pride of Aloha which began offering inter-island cruises in late June.

Repeat visitors to the islands comprised 56.1 percent of the out-of-state cruise visitors during year-to-date 2004, compared to 57.8 percent in the same period last year. These cruise visitors stayed an average of 8 days in Hawaii, of which 5.3 days were spent on their cruise and another 2.7 days were spent before and after their cruise.

• Total visitor expenditures: Total expenditures by visitors who came by air in September 2004 increased by 9.6 percent from the same month last year to $783.3 million. Total spending by U.S. West visitors was the highest at $283.1 million (+4.7%), followed by visitors from the U.S. East at $201.3 million (+15.4%), Japan at $184.5 million (+2.3%) and Canada at $14.2 million (+40.7%). By island, visitor spending on Oahu rose 9.9 percent to $404.7 million. Spending by visitors on Maui was second at $192.8 million (unchanged).

  Year-to-date, air visitors spent a total of $7.7 billion while in Hawaii. U.S. West visitors spent $2.8 billion (-1.8%), followed by visitors from the U.S. East (+10.3% to $2.3 billion) and Japan (+17.7% to $1.5 billion).

  For the first nine months of 2004, visitor spending on Oahu totaled $3.7 billion (+10.7%). Visitor spending on Maui was $2.2 billion (+0.1%), followed by the Big Island at $900.4 million (+2.4%), Kauai at $845.7 million (+13.7%), Lanai at $45.1 million (-12.6%) and Molokai at $19.7 million (-16.5%).

• Per person per day expenditures: Japanese visitors continued to spend the most on a daily basis at $252 per person in September 2004, followed by those from the U.S. East ($176 per person).

  The average daily spending by Japanese visitors was $245 per person during the first nine months of 2004. Visitors from the U.S. East spent $162 per person, followed by visitors from All Other MMAs ($159 per person), the U.S. West ($141 per person) and from Canada ($123 per person).

• Per person per trip expenditures: Visitors from the U.S. East spent the most per trip at $1,727 per person in September 2004, followed by those from All Other MMAs at $1,691 per person, from Canada at $1,627 per person, from Japan at $1,416 per person and from the U.S. West at $1,376 per person.

  Year-to-date U.S. East visitors spent $1,658 per person per trip, followed by visitors from Canada ($1,634 per person), from All Other markets ($1,621 per person), Japan ($1,431 per person) and the U.S. West ($1,336 per person).

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