Canadian Visitors Up 18%, Otherwise Tourism Flat

By Sonia Isotov

Minature-mob kicks off 13th Annual Keiki Hula Festival on Maui. Image grap, courtesy Lahaina Cannery Mall.

In what was a relatively flat first seven months of 2011, the Hawaii Tourism Authority is reporting preliminary statistics indicate that arrivals to Maui by Canadian visitors were up 17.8% compared to the same period last year.

For the month of July alone, total arrivals to Maui were down 2% compared to July 2010. Decreases for July alone over last year were also seen in arrivals from the following markets: US West (-1.5%), U.S. East (-4.4%) and Japan (-18.9%), but growth came from Canadian visitors by a 15.7% growth in arrivals.

For the first seven months of 2011, arrivals to Maui by Canadian visitors were up 17.8% compared to the same period last year, along with increases in visitors to Maui from US West (+3.9%) and US East (+2.7%). Japanese arrivals declined 7.1% compared to the same period last year.

“Through the first seven months of the year, increased airlift to our neighbor islands has better distributed visitor arrivals and expenditures across the state, reaching $7.2 billion in total, built on an increase in average length of stay and per person per day spending,” explained Mike McCartney, President and CEO, Hawai’i Tourism Authority. “Hawai’i’s tourism economy continues to fare well despite global economic uncertainty, with an increase in arrivals and visitors who are staying longer and spending more than they did in 2010.”

For the state as a whole, the Hawaii Tourism Authority is reporting that arrivals by air only in July 2011 fell 1.9% from last July to 667,707 visitors. Arrivals from Canada jumped 28.6% compared to July 2010, the thirteenth consecutive month of double-digit growth. US East arrivals decreased 6% from July 2010. Japanese arrivals dropped 9.2% compared to July 2010 after four consecutive months of double-digit losses. Arrivals from US West (-1%) declined for a second month.

Regarding total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawai‘i in the first seven months of 2011, there was an increase of 16.1%, compared to the same period last year, to $7.2 billion. Total visitor days for all visitors rose 5.3%, and total arrivals maintained a 3.6% lead over last year at 4,234,156 visitors, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

For the month of July 2011, total visitor expenditures rose 5.2% ($55.8 million) from July 2010 to $1.1 billion. Contributing to the increase was higher daily spending by all visitors ($177 per person, up from $164 per person in July 2010), despite a decline in total arrivals (-1.9%) to 668,193 visitors.

“We anticipate continued growth through the fourth quarter and into 2012 with the continuation of China Eastern Airlines’ direct service from Shanghai and additional airlift and up-gauging of aircraft form Korea and Japan, Australia’s Strategic Airlines launching of service from Brisbane and Melbourne. With continued interest in new routes to Hawai’i, the HTA is working with airlines to maintain and grow airlift to our islands to meet demand.”