For Immediate Release: January 24, 2005
DBEDT Release News 05-03

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

Resulting in Record Visitor Spending of $10.3 Billion

HONOLULU - For calendar year 2004, total visitor days for visitors arriving by air rose 6.8 percent to reach a new milestone of 62.8 million, thanks to record domestic air visitor arrivals and growth from the international market, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Total arrivals by air of 6,908,173 visitors was the second best ever, only surpassed by the 6,948,595 visitors to the state in the year 2000.

Domestic visitor days continue to grow at an exceptional pace, increasing 8.8 percent in December 2004 to a new high for the month of December. For the year, domestic visitor days grew 7.3 percent compared to 2003 to a record 48.3 million. International visitor days were off by 1.2 percent for the month of December but surpassed 2003 levels by 5.3 percent.

Air visitor expenditures for December 2004 totaled $1 billion, virtually unchanged from the same month last year. For calendar year 2004, total visitor expenditures of those who came by air rose 5 percent to a new record of $10.3 billion.

Hawaii's cruise visitor industry also performed well in 2004. The number of visitors who came by cruise ships or who arrived by air to board cruise ships touring the islands rose 6.8 percent in December and 4.5 percent for the calendar year.

"2004 was a great year for Hawaii's visitor industry with impressive record-breaking results, growth and stability in all key areas," said Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert. "Contributing to the success was an 8.5 percent increase in total air seat capacity to the islands."

"Beginning in February 2005, DBEDT will be releasing monthly scheduled air seat statistics for the next three months. A sneak peak of the data show strong growth in scheduled air seats from both domestic and international destinations to Hawaii for February, March and April 2005. Our hope is that this increase in capacity will further stimulate and strengthen our visitor industry and help Hawaii's businesses plan," continued Wienert.

• Total air visitors: Contributing to the record total visitor days in 2004 was an 8.3 percent increase in total arrivals to 6,908,173 visitors. The average length of stay by these visitors was 9.09 days.
• Domestic air visitors: Domestic arrivals rose 7.6 percent compared to 2003 to a historical best of 4,877,360 visitors. The average length of stay was relatively unchanged at 9.91 days. The number of U.S. visitors, which comprised 91.5 percent of total domestic arrivals, grew 6.7 percent compared to the same period last year with increases for all nine regions of the mainland U.S. Total domestic arrivals include U.S. residents and international visitors who came to Hawaii on domestic flights.

• International air visitors: A 9.8 percent growth in arrivals to 2,030,813 visitors contributed to a 5.3 percent growth in international visitor days. The average length of stay was 7.13 days.
• Total repeat/first-time visitors: Repeat visitors comprised 61.8 percent of the total visitors to Hawaii versus 62.5 percent in 2003.
• Arrivals by Island: Visitor arrivals increased on Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island compared to the previous year.
• Purpose of trip: A greater number of visitors came to vacation (+9.9%), honeymoon (+12.1%), get married (+5.5%), visit friends or relatives (+7.3%) and for other business (+10.2%) compared to 2003.
• Air visitors from the top four major market areas (MMAs):

  U.S. West: U.S. West visitor days rose 4.8 percent, due to a 5.4 percent growth in arrivals to 2,752,048 visitors. The average length of stay was 9.55 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: Greater arrivals from the U.S. East (+8.9% to 1,800,628 visitors) contributed to an 8.7 percent increase in visitor days compared to 2003. The average length of stay was 10.25 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 grew 8 percent as total arrivals rose 10.3 percent to 1,477,629 visitors in 2004. The average length of stay by these visitors was 5.79 days. More Japanese visitors came to vacation, get married, honeymoon, for meetings, conventions and incentives, and to visit friends and relatives compared to 2003.

Canada: Canadian visitor days increased 2.3 percent compared to the previous year. A total of 214,618 Canadian visitors came to the islands, 4.7 higher than in 2003. The average length of stay was 13.16 days.

Calendar Year 2004 Preliminary Cruise Visitors Statistics:

A total of 23,998 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 December 2004. These visitors were passengers of two Hawaii-home ported ships, the Norwegian Wind and the Pride of Aloha, and four out-of-state cruise ships. The number of visitors this December was 6.8 percent higher than the same month last year when six out-of-state cruise ships and one Hawaii home-ported ship, the Norwegian Star, carried 22,466 out-of-state visitors around the islands.

For calendar year 2004, there were a total of 76 cruise ship arrivals, carrying 240,800 out-of-state visitors. This was a 4.5 percent growth compared to 2003, which saw 69 cruise ship arrivals and 230,465 passengers.

Repeat visitors to the islands comprised 57.5 percent of the out-of-state cruise visitors during 2004, compared to 58.2 percent in the prior year. These cruise visitors stayed an average of 8.1 days in Hawaii, of which 5.5 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 December 2004 was virtually unchanged from the same month last year at $1 billion. The U.S. West and Canadian markets reported growth in visitor expenditures compared to December 2003. Total spending by U.S. West visitors was the highest at $376.3 million (+2.6%), followed by visitors from the U.S. East at $283.6 million (-3.6%), Japan at $201.3 million (-3%) and Canada at $44.2 million (+10.3%).

  By island, visitor spending on Oahu rose 1.3 percent to $519.2 million. Spending by visitors on Maui was second at $269.8 million, up 2.6 percent.

  For calendar year 2004, air visitors spent a total of $10.3 billion (+5%) while in Hawaii. U.S. West visitors spent $3.8 billion (-1.7%), followed by visitors from the U.S. East (+9% to $3 billion), Japan (+11.8% to $2.1 billion) and Canada (+3.2% to $346.1 million).

  Visitor spending on Oahu totaled $5 billion (+8.4%) for the year. Visitor spending on Maui was $2.9 billion (+1.1%), followed by the Big Island at $1.2 billion (+0.6%), Kauai at $1.1 billion (+9.5%), Lanai at $60.2 million (-26.3%) and Molokai at $26.1 million (-16.7%).

• Per person per day expenditures: Japanese visitors continued to spend the most on a daily basis at $247 per person in December 2004, followed by those from the U.S. East ($167 per person).

  The average daily spending by Japanese visitors was $249 per person in calendar year 2004. Visitors from the U.S. East spent $164 per person, followed by visitors from All Other markets ($161 per person), the U.S. West ($143 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 $1,836 per person in December 2004, followed by those from All Other markets at $1,748 per person, Canada at $1,634 per person, the U.S. West at $1,541 per person and Japan at $1,482 per person.

  For the year, U.S. East visitors spent $1,678 per person per trip, followed by visitors from All Other markets ($1,624 per person), Canada ($1,613 per person), Japan ($1,439 per person) and the U.S. West ($1,370 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