For Immediate Release: December 28, 2007
DBEDT Release News 07-33

Year-to-Date Visitor Spending Totaled $11 Billion

Note: November 2007 Visitor Research Data can be viewed here.

HONOLULU--Visitor expenditures for November 2007 increased $1.2 million or .1 percent ahead of last November to $933.8 million, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). Expenditures for the first 11 months of 2007 totaled $11 billion, up .6 percent or $66.2 million compared to the same period last year. The average daily visitor spending for November grew from $184 per person in 2006 to $187 per person in 2007. Daily spending rose 2.5 percent to $182 per person from January through November 2007.

For the month of November 2007, total arrivals declined 1.6 percent to 563,929 visitors causing a 1.7 percent drop in total visitor days. The average length of stay was unchanged at 8.86 days. Among the top four visitor markets, arrivals from Canada (+5.9%) and the U.S. West (+1%) increased, while U.S. East (-6.5%) and Japanese (-6.7%) arrivals were lower compared to November 2006.

For the year through November 2007, total visitor days decreased 1.9 percent compared to 2006, while total arrivals declined 1.1 percent. There were more visitors from the U.S West (+.7%) and Canada (+2.9%) but fewer from Japan (-3.5%) and the U.S. East (-2.9%) compared to the first 11 months of 2006.

"Visitor spending remains strong and the overall condition of Hawai‘i's visitor industry remains stable," said State Tourism Liaison, Marsha Wienert. "We are particularly pleased with the increase in the total number of visitors who came to honeymoon and get married in November and the continued strong growth in arrivals from the Pacific Northwest."

Other Highlights:

• Arrivals from Washington, which have grown every month since May 2006, jumped 32.8 percent in November 2007. Contributing to the November increase was the addition of Alaska Airlines' direct flights from Seattle to Honolulu and Lihu'e in mid-October. Year-to-date visitors from Washington rose 13.5 percent compared to the same period last year.
• Arrivals from Oregon rose 2.3 percent in November 2007 and 8.4 percent year-to-date. Except for decreases in April 2006 and May 2007, Oregon visitors have shown year-over-year growth every month for the last two years.

• Hawai‘i continued to be a popular destination for honeymooners (+10.1%) in November. There were more honeymoon visitors from Canada (+17.4%), Japan (+15.4%) and the U.S. West (+1.6%) compared to last November. So far this year, Hawai‘i has hosted 454,298 honeymooners, up 1.7 percent from year-to date 2006.
• Visitors who came to get married (+6.6%) also increased compared to November 2006, particularly from Canada (+14.4%), the U.S. East (+13.5%) and Japan (+8.9%).

• Kaua‘i was the only island to show growth in total visitor arrivals in November 2007 compared to the same month last year. O‘ahu realized increases from U.S. West and Canadian visitors but fewer from the U.S. East and Japan. Maui and Hawai‘i Island saw growth in Canadian visitors

• Through November 2007, O‘ahu and Maui saw growth in arrivals from U.S. West and Canadian visitors but fewer from the U.S. East and Japan. Hawai‘i Island reported increased arrivals from U.S. East and Canadian visitors compared to year-to-date 2006. Kaua‘i was the only island with increased visitor traffic from all four markets.
• Year-to-date, visitor spending on O‘ahu rose 1 percent to $5.2 billion compared to the first 11 months of 2006. Spending on Maui was the second highest at $3.1 billion, but decreased 4.2 percent from a year ago. Both Hawai‘i Island at $1.5 billion (+5.3%) and Kaua‘i at $1.2 billion (+4.1%) showed growth over the same period in 2006.

November 2007 Cruise Ship Visitors

• Total cruise visitor days for November 2007 rose 11.1 percent and the number of visitors who boarded a Hawai‘i home-ported or foreign-flagged cruise ship grew 6.9 percent to 37,265 visitors. The average length of stay by all cruise visitors during the month was 10.24 days, up from 9.85 days in November 2006.
• Total cruise visitor days increased 26.7 percent for the first 11 months of 2007. Contributing to this increase was a 23 percent growth in cruise visitors to 459,189 visitors. These passengers include those who flew to the state to board cruise ships or came by cruise ships visiting Hawai‘i. Of the ships in Hawai‘i year-to-date, there were 72 cruise ship arrivals, compared to 58 in the same period last year. Cruise ship arrival is the number of times cruise ships enter the State of Hawai‘i. A cruise ship may be counted multiple times if it leaves Hawai‘i then returns with new passengers within the same month.

Technical Notes: 2006 air visitor data presented in this news release are the final data for the year. Detailed final statistics have been published in the 2006 Annual Visitor Research Report, available at the Visitor Statistics website: 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
Communications
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov