Hawaii tourists spent hit $1.3 billion last month

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Visitors spent a total of $1.3 billion in the Hawaiian Islands in April 2017, an increase of 9 percent compared to a year ago, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). Total visitor arrivals also grew 7.5 percent to 752,964 visitors. Hawaiiโ€™s four largest visitor markets, US West, US East, Japan and Canada, all realized growth in visitor spending and arrivals in April 2017 compared to a year ago.

From the US West, visitor spending rose in April 2017 (+17% to $490.4 million) boosted by an increase in arrivals (+9.4% to 321,877). Contributing to the increase in visitor arrivals was having the Easter holiday take place in April of this year versus March of last year. US West visitors also spent more per day (+7.5% to $176 per person) this April compared to last year.

From the US East, visitor spending grew in April 2017 (+12.2% to $298.6 million), spurred by an increase in arrivals (+10.7% to 147,532) and higher visitor spending (+1.2% to $215 per person).

The Japan visitor market continued to produce positive results due to the launch of direct air service to Kona, increased air service to Honolulu, and the start of Golden Week, traditionally a period of growth for outbound Japan travel. Visitor spending rose in April 2017 (+4.6% to $145.6 million), as did arrivals (+8.4% to 109,604). However, daily spending of $222 per person was down slightly compared to April 2016 ($227 per person).

The Canada market continued to recover from sharp decreases in visitor spending and visitor arrivals for most of last year. In April 2017, visitor spending (+21.5% to $90.4 million) and arrivals (+17.9% to 48,952) showed substantial increases compared to a year ago.

Visitor spending from All Other International markets declined in April 2017 (-7.9% to $220.9 million), as lower daily spending offset the increase in arrivals (+2.1% to 109,818).

Visitor spending and arrivals increased for all four larger Hawaiian Islands in April 2017 compared to the year prior. The island of Hawaii, in particular, saw double-digit growth in visitor spending and arrivals, supported by increased direct air service from the US and Japan.

The total number of air seats serving Hawaii in April 2017 was similar (+0.4% to 978,406) to a year ago. Growth in scheduled seats from US East (+14.5%), Japan (+8%) and Canada (+3%) balanced out declines from US West (-1.5%), Other Asia (-10.9%) and Oceania (-13.3%).

Year-to-Date 2017

Visitor spending statewide rose through the first four months of 2017 (+10.1% to $5.6 billion), bolstered by increases in visitor arrivals (+4.2% to 3,017,867) and daily spending (+5.6% to $203 per person).

Year-to-date, Hawaiiโ€™s four largest visitor markets, US West (+16.4% to $2 billion), US East (+10.3% to $1.4 billion), Japan (+15.8% to $708.6 million) and Canada (+9.1% to $525.4 million), all reported strong growth in visitor spending compared to the year prior.

All four markets, US West (+3.7% to 1,170,308), US East (+6.4% to 665,420), Japan (+7.6% to 493,306) and Canada (+6.1% to 244,261), also realized growth in visitor arrivals compared to the same period last year.

Visitor spending from All Other International Markets declined (-4.6% to $920.5 million) due to decreased arrivals (-4.9% to 388,426) and lower daily spending (-3.8% to $245 per person) compared to the first four months of 2016.

Other Highlights:

โ€ข US West: Visitor arrivals from the Pacific region rose in April 2017 (+8.9%) compared to a year ago. There were significantly more visitors from California, particularly from the Los Angeles (+22.3%), San Francisco (+7%) and Sacramento (+30.8%) metropolitan areas. A shift in the Easter holiday schedule to April of this year versus March of last year contributed to some of the growth in visitors from California. Arrivals from the Mountain region (+11%) also increased with more visitors coming from Nevada (+35.2%) and Utah (+20.8%). Through the first four months of 2017, arrivals increased from both the Pacific (+2.1%) and Mountain (+7.6%) regions.

โ€ข US East: Growth in arrivals from the South Atlantic (+22.8%), Mid Atlantic (+18.3%), West North Central (+11%) and East North Central (+7.4%) regions offset fewer visitors from the New England (-3.1%) and West South Central (-2.5%) regions. In the first four months of 2017, arrivals increased from all US East regions compared to the same period last year.

โ€ข Japan: Golden Week is a string of four holidays that occurs from April 29 through May 5 each year. The combination of holidays and weekends created a longer-than-normal vacation period that was favorable to long-haul destinations like Hawaii. Visitors from Japan traveling to Hawaii for Golden Week started arriving April 27. There were significantly more visitors from Japan who stayed in condominium properties (+45.2%) in April 2017 versus last year. Fewer visitors purchased group tours (-6.3%) while more made their own travel arrangements (+26.9%).

โ€ข MCI: The number of visitors who came for meetings, conventions and incentives (MCI) rose (+3.7% to 48,901) in April 2017. More visitors came to attend conventions (+28.3% to 20,474) but fewer came for corporate meetings (-11.6% to 8,950) or traveled on incentive trips (-6.9% to 21,462). Contributing to the growth in convention visitors was the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 25th Annual Meeting, held at the Hawaii Convention Center, which attracted close to 6,400 out-of-state delegates. For the first four months of 2017, growth in MCI visitors (-0.5% to 198,352) was flat compared to the same period last year.

Highlights from All Other Markets:

โ€ข Australia: Fewer available air seats contributed to a decrease in visitor arrivals in April 2017 (-11.3% to 26,934) and in the first four months of 2017 (-5.1% to 91,085).

โ€ข New Zealand: Visitor arrivals increased in April 2017 (+10.6% to 5,675) and year-to-date for 2017 (+10% to 14,446).

โ€ข China: Visitor arrivals rose in April 2017 (+5.5% to 13,781) but declined through the first four months of 2017 (-5.8% to 50,894) compared to last year.

โ€ข Korea: Visitor arrivals decreased in April 2017 (-9.9% to 16,222) and year-to-date (-3.4% to 78,049). The decline in April 2017 was partially caused by reduced seat capacity, as a carrier suspended service to Hawaii until late May 2017 for maintenance.

โ€ข Taiwan: Visitor arrivals declined in April 2017 (-5.8% to 1,243), but continued to increase year-to-date (+2.6% to 6,054) compared to a year ago.

โ€ข Europe: Visitor arrivals from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland decreased in April 2017 (-4.4% to 12,119) and year-to-date (-5.3% to 36,830) versus last year.

โ€ข Latin America: Visitor arrivals from Mexico, Brazil and Argentina increased in April 2017 (+15.5% to 2,246) but declined through the first four months of the year (-12.3% to 7,944).

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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