For Immediate Release: May 7, 2003
DBEDT Release News 03-21

Honolulu--A typical out-of-state visitor on Lanai spent $247 a day while daily spending by visitors on Maui was $161 per person, according data from the neighbor island visitor expenditure survey for 2002 released by DBEDT today. Daily spending by visitors on Kauai ranked third at $143 per person, followed by those who visited the Big Island ($141) and Molokai ($83). Oahu data collection was not part of this neighbor island survey.

DBEDT notes, however, that visitor samples from Lanai are relatively small and skewed toward hotel visitors. Samples from other islands represent a broader survey of the visitor population.

"The neighbor island surveys now include information on Hawaii residents traveling between islands," said DBEDT Director Theodore E. Liu. "As might be expected, Hawaii residents traveling between islands tend to go for business or to visit friends or relatives (46%) rather than for pleasure (32%)."

The study surveyed out-of-state visitors and Hawaii residents from airports on Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, and the Big Island in 2002. A total of 42,705 questionnaire forms were collected during the year, 19,248 of which were from Maui, 1,221 from Molokai, 652 from Lanai, 9,337 from Kauai and 12,247 from the Big Island.

Out-of-State Visitors to Maui:

A total of 15,883 useable forms from out-of-state visitors were processed for the Maui Survey in 2002. Close to 54 percent of these visitors were from the U.S. West, 29.7 percent were from the U.S. East, 2.2 percent were from Canada, 1.1 percent were from Europe and 0.8 percent were from Japan. The majority (66.5%) of the respondents stayed exclusively on Maui, while the remainder also visited other islands.

Nearly 82 percent of the visitors came to Maui for vacation, 9.0 percent got married or honeymooned on the island, 3.3 percent attended conventions or conferences and 3.1 percent visited friends or relatives.

Hotels and condominium properties were the top lodging choices accommodating 50.0 percent and 38.3 percent of the respondents, respectively. About 10.0 percent of the respondents stayed in timeshare. The average length of stay by these visitors on Maui was 8.88 days. Over half (53.5%) of the respondents were repeat visitors.

Of the total 15,883 usable forms processed, 12,414 forms included expenditure data, 6,676 of which were from the U.S. West, 3,911 from the U.S. East, 307 from Canada and 134 from Europe. Results show daily spending by U.S. East respondents at $189 per person which was higher than those from the U.S. West ($148 per person), Canada ($128 per person) and Europe ($111 per person).

Lodging expenses comprised a larger share of the average daily spending for Canadian visitors (47.2%) compared to those from the U.S. West (38.3%), U.S. East (38.4%) and Europe (36.7%). Food and beverage was the next biggest expense for these respondents (26.0% for European, 21.0% for U.S. East, 20.9% for U.S. West and 20.6% for Canadians). Shopping comprised the third largest expenses for U.S. West (13.1%) and U.S. East (13.4%) respondents. In contrast, transportation costs were the third largest expenses for Canadian (11.4%) and European (12.4%) visitors while shopping expenses ranked fourth.

Out-of-State Visitors to Molokai:

A total of 536 useable forms were processed from out-of-state visitors surveyed on Molokai, 45.0 percent of whom were from the U.S. West, 28.3 percent were U.S. East visitors, 3.9 percent were Japanese visitors, and 2.6 percent were European visitors and 2.3 percent were Canadian visitors. Close to 23 percent of these visitors stayed exclusively on Molokai, while the others also visited other islands. The majority of the respondents (78.6%) came to this island for vacation, 7.0 percent came to visit friends or relatives and 5.9 percent to get married or honeymoon. More out-of-state visitors to Molokai stayed in condominium properties (37.5%) than in hotels (32.6%) or with friends or relatives (11.3%). The average length of stay was 9.53 days. First-time visitors accounted for 63.7 percent of all out-of-state respondents.

A total of 468 useable forms with expenditure data were processed, most of which were from U.S. West (49.6%) and U.S. East (27.1%) respondents. The data show higher daily spending by U.S. East respondents ($83 per person) compared to visitors from the U.S. West ($75 per person).

Lodging was the primary expense for visitors from both U.S. segments, but accounted for a higher percentage of daily spending by U.S. West respondents (37.5%) than those from the U.S. East (37.1%). Food and beverage and transportation costs also comprised a larger share of spending by U.S. West respondents at 25.1 percent and 16.7 percent, respectively, compared to their U.S. East counterpart (23.2% and 15.6%). Shopping was the fourth largest expense for both U.S. West (7.9%) and U.S. East (10.3%) respondents on Molokai.

Out-of-State Visitors to Lanai:

A total of 151 useable forms from out-of-state visitors were processed for the Lanai survey in 2002. Over half (52.3%) of these visitors were from the U.S. West, 31.8 percent were from the U.S. East, 12.9 percent were from Japan and 1.3 percent were from Canada. Close to 22 percent of the respondents stayed only on Lanai while the remainder also visited other islands.

About 77.0 percent of the respondents vacationed on Lanai, 16.5 percent came to get married or honeymoon, 4.4 percent were there for other business and 3.0 percent were on incentive trips. Nearly all of the visitors stayed in hotels (96.4%) while 2.2 percent found lodging with friends or relatives. First-time visitors accounted for 68.5 percent of all out-of-state respondents. The average length of stay on Lanai was 5.83 days.

A total of 118 forms with usable expenditure statistics were processed, however expenditure data separated by major market areas were not available due to small sample size.

Combined results show daily spending for respondents on Lanai at $247 per person with lodging accounting for 70.0 percent of the daily expenses. Lodging expenditures were higher on Lanai than on all other islands. Food and beverage (14.7%) comprised the second largest share of daily spending followed by shopping (4.3%), entertainment (3.6%) and transportation (2.4%).

Out-of-State Visitors to Kauai:

A total of 8,034 useable forms from out-of-state visitors were processed for the Kauai survey, 47.6 percent of which were from U.S. West respondents, 36.8 percent were from the U.S. East, 2.8 percent from Canada, 2.8 percent from Europe and 1.9 percent from Japan.

About 40.2 percent of the respondents stayed exclusively on Kauai. The average length of stay by these visitors on this island was 7.91 days. About 51.8 percent were repeat visitors to the island. More than 82 percent vacationed on Kauai, 9.5 percent came to get married or honeymooned, 3.2 percent came to visit friends or relatives and 2.2 percent attended conventions/conferences. Nearly 48 percent of the out-of-state visitors to Kauai stayed in hotels, 24.7 percent stayed in condominium properties, 21.2 percent stayed in timeshare properties and 2.9 percent stayed in apartment/rental house.

A total of 6,710 useable forms with expenditure data were processed for Kauai, 3,258 were from the U.S. West, 2,528 from the U.S. East, 202 from Canada and 177 from Europe in 2002. Results show that U.S. East respondents ($160 per person) spent more on a daily basis while on Kauai than those from Europe ($147 per person), Canada ($138 per person) and the U.S. West ($134 per person).

Lodging expenses comprised a larger share of the average daily spending for European visitors (44.9%) compared to respondents from Canada (39.6%), the U.S. West (36.0%) and the U.S. East (34.9%). Food and beverage was the next biggest expense for these respondents (24.5% for Canadian, 22.2% for European, 22.2% for U.S. West and 22.1% for U.S. East).

Transportation costs was the third largest expenses for U.S. West (13.2%) and European (12.6%) respondents. In contrast, shopping was the third largest expenses for U.S. East (13.1%) and Canadian (12.1%) visitors while transportation expenses ranked fourth.

Out-of-State Visitors to the Big Island:

A total of 6,920 useable forms were processed from the Big Island study, 5,059 from Kona and 1,861 from Hilo. Although the data presented are for visitors leaving from Hilo and Kona airports separately, the survey collected expenditure and purpose of trip information for the island as a whole.

Kona: Of the out-of-state visitors represented from the Kona survey, visitors from the U.S. West (42.7%) were the largest respondent group, followed by visitors from the U.S. East (29.4%), Japan (5.7%), Canada (3.4%) and Europe (2.9%). Close to 78 percent of the out-of-state visitors went to the Big Island for vacation, 6.2 percent to get married/honeymoon, 5.9 percent for conventions or conferences, and 4.6 percent to visit friends or relatives. Over half (57.6%) of the visitors surveyed in Kona stayed in hotels, 22.5 percent stayed in condominium properties, 14.8 percent stayed in timeshare properties, and 6.6 percent stayed with friends or relatives. The average length of stay for this group was 8.33 days.

Hilo: About 36.7 percent of the visitors represented by the Hilo survey were from the U.S. East, 27.4 percent were from the U.S. West, 16.9 percent were from Japan, 4.6 were from Canada and 1.1 percent were from Europe. Nearly 71 percent of the Hilo respondents went to the Big Island for vacation, 16.2 percent to visit friends or relatives, 7.6 percent for other business, 3.1 percent attended conventions or conferences and 1.6 percent to get married/honeymoon.

Over to 63 percent of the visitors surveyed stayed in hotels, 22.0 percent stayed with friends or relatives, 11.8 percent in bed and breakfast properties, 5.1 percent stayed in condominium properties and 2.7 percent stayed in timeshare properties. Respondents in Hilo stated that their average length of stay on the Big Island was 5.26 days.

Spending by Out-of-state visitors to the Big Island: A total of 5,635 useable forms with expenditure data were processed, 2,226 of which were from the U.S. West, 1,748 from the U.S. East, 504 from Japan, 221 from Canada and 145 from Europe.

Daily expenditures by Japanese respondents at $158 per person was the highest among these visitor groups. Ranked second was spending by U.S. East visitors ($152 per person), followed by those from the U.S. West ($137 per person), Europe ($131 per person) and Canada ($116 per person).

Lodging expenses comprised the biggest share of daily spending of Europeans (44.2%), Canadians (42.0%), U.S. West (37.3%), U.S. East (36.1%) and Japanese (34.0%) respondents. Food and beverage was the second largest expense for visitors from Canada (23.3%), U.S. West (21.3%), U.S. East (20.2%) and Europe (19.0%) followed by shopping expenses.

In contrast, shopping was the second largest expenses for Japanese visitors (31.0% share of daily spending) on the Big Island as they spent more than twice the amount of their U.S. counterparts and nearly quadrupled that of Canadians and European respondents.

Hawaii Residents Visiting the Neighbor Islands:

Maui: A total of 160 useable forms were processed from Hawaii residents. About 40.2 percent went to Maui for vacation, 16.6 percent for other business, 15.1 percent visited friends or relatives, 4.6 percent attended conventions or conferences, 1.5 percent got married or honeymooned on the island and 1.9 percent were on incentive trips. The average length of stay by Hawaii residents on Maui was 6.31 days. The majority (79.6%) were repeat visitors to this island. Over half (55.7%) of the resident visitors stayed in hotels, 27.1 percent stayed with friends or relatives and 17.6 percent stayed in condominium properties.

A total of 100 useable forms with expenditure data were processed. The average daily spending was $122 per person, highest among all four neighbor islands. Lodging (49.3%) accounted for the largest share of daily spending, followed by food and beverage (21.2%) transportation (10.2%) and shopping (7.2%).

Molokai: The number of usable forms processed from Hawaii residents on Molokai was 236. About 54.4 percent of these residents went to Molokai for vacation, 16.6 percent visited friends or relatives, 11.9 percent for other business, 2.0 percent for government/military business and 2.0 percent went to get married or honeymooned on the island. Close to one third (32.0%) of the resident visitors stayed in hotels, 31.0 percent stayed with friends or relatives, 11.5 percent stayed in condominium properties, and 9.4 percent stayed on camp sites. The average length of stay by Hawaii residents on Molokai was 4.69 days, while 66.8 percent were repeat visitors to this island.

A total of 173 useable forms with expenditure data were processed. Resident visitors spent an average of $59 per person while on this island, the lowest among all neighbor island surveyed. Lodging accounted for 35.0 percent of daily spending, followed by food and beverage (27.1%) transportation (13.9%) and shopping (8.1%).

Lanai: A total of 233 usable forms were processed from Hawaii residents visiting Lanai. The majority (74.8%) of the residents represented by these forms were repeat visitors to the island. Close to 37 percent of the resident respondents vacationed on Lanai, 14.4 percent visited friends or relatives, 12.4 percent came for other business, 4.1 percent attended conventions/conferences and 1.0 percent came to get married or honeymoon. Over half (55.2%) of the residents stayed in hotels, 30.4 percent stayed with friends or relatives, 2.7 percent stayed in apartments/rental properties and 1.7 percent sstayed in bed and breakfast properties. The average length of stay by resident visitors on the island was 3.28 days.

A total of 119 useable forms with expenditure data were processed. Resident visitors spent an average of $93 per person on Lanai with lodging comprising 60.6 percent of the average daily expenses. The remainder consists of food and beverage (18.0%) transportation (8.9%), shopping (5.8%) and entertainment (4.5%).

Kauai: A total of 747 usable forms were processed for Hawaii residents visiting Kauai. About 37.0 percent of the respondents came to vacation, 32.0 percent visited friends or relatives, 14.4 percent were there for other business, 2.0 percent attended conventions or conferences, 1.1 percent for corporate meetings and 0.8 percent got married or honeymooned on the island. The average length of stay by resident visitors was 5.12 days. The majority (89.5%) were repeat visitors to this island. Close to 43 percent of the resident visitors stayed in hotels, 39.0 percent stayed with friends or relatives, 7.4 percent stayed in condominium properties, 5.7 percent stayed in timeshare properties and 2.2 percent stayed in apartment/rental house.

A total of 594 useable forms with expenditure data were processed. Results show that the average spending by resident visitors was $76 per person per day. lodging accounted for nearly one-third of the daily expenditure amount, followed by food and beverage (25.4%), transportation (15.5%) and shopping (13.4%).

Kona: A total of 387 usable forms from resident visitors surveyed at the Kona airport were processed. In contrast to Hilo, the largest percentage of the respondents from the Kona survey came to the Big Island for vacation (50.3%), while 16.1 percent visited friends or relatives, 11.9 percent for other business, 6.5 percent attended conventions/conferences and 2.2 percent got married or went on their honeymoon. The average length of stay was 5.76 days. The majority (87.9%) were repeat visitors to the Big Island.

Hilo: A total of 1,370 usable forms were processed from Hawaii residents surveyed at the Hilo airport. The largest percentage of residents went to the Big Island to visit with friends or relatives (33.1%), while 28.8 percent went for other business and 17.2 percent for vacation. The average length of stay by these respondents was 4.50 days. About 52.3 percent stayed with friends or relatives, 21.0 percent stayed in hotels, and 11.5 percent stayed in apartments/rental house. Nearly all the respondents (95.7%) have been to the Big Island before.

Hawaii residents traveling to the Big Island spent $78 per day, with less spent on lodging (22.8%) than on food and beverage (25.4%) and shopping (24.0%). Interestingly, resident visitors spent more on shopping on the Big Island than on any other neighbor islands surveyed.

Notes:

Visitors from the U.S. West and U.S. East, the State's two largest markets, represented the majority of those who participated in the survey on each neighbor island. Where the sample size by market areas was too small, only the combined expenditures data by island are presented. Unlike the statewide expenditures published by DBEDT, the neighbor island expenditure data do not include inter-island airfare. Further, only those visitors staying overnight and longer were included in the survey.

For more information, contact:
Dave Young
Communications
Phone: (808) 587-1212
Email: dyoung@dbedt.hawaii.gov