Maui Visitor Spending Grows, Arrivals Flat

Front Street. Courtesy of HVCB.

By Sonia Isotov

Total expenditures by Maui visitors in the first nine months of 2011 increased by 15.1%, compared to the same period last year, to $2,370.5 million, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Total visitor days for Maui visitors only rose 4.2% and total arrivals (+4.5%) continued to surpass last year at 1,640,498 visitors.

For the month of September 2011, total visitor expenditures for Maui grew 16.4% ($225.9 million) from September 2010 to $194.0 million. Contributing to the increase was higher daily spending by all visitors ($194.9 per person, up from $176.2 per person in September 2010) and a 4.7% growth in total arrivals to 159,359 visitors.

“Visitor spending grew to more than $1 billion in September, an increase of 19.7%, with visitors from every major market area spending more and staying longer than in 2010. We are also pleased that these increases are being seen throughout all of the four major islands, with year-to-date total visitor expenditures reaching $9.3 billion in 2011,” said Mike McCartney, president and chief executive officer, Hawaii Tourism Authority, in a written statement.

Total visitor days for all visitors rose 4.2% and total arrivals (+2.7%) continued to surpass last year at 5,446,393 visitors. Contributing to the statewide increase was higher daily spending by all visitors ($199 per person, up from $176 per person in September 2010) and a 4% growth in total arrivals to 560,707 visitors.

After six straight months of losses, Japanese arrivals grew slightly by 0.8%.  Arrivals from US West (+2%) and US East (+4.4%) also increased following three months of declines.

Continued McCartney, “September’s growth included the continued increase in Japanese visitor spending, as well as an increase in visitor arrivals, the first of such increases in six months. And we are hopeful that the uptick in arrivals is a sign of recovery of the Japan market.”

Statewide, arrivals by air only in September 2011 rose 4.7% from last September to 553,068 visitors, with increases from all top four visitor markets. Arrivals from Canada climbed 23%, the fifteenth consecutive month of double-digit growth.

“We anticipate this momentum to continue through the fourth quarter of 2011 and into 2012, with increases in airlift out of Japan, Canada, Korea and Australia through new and established airlines. We are excited to welcome Asiana Airlines with direct service from Honolulu to Incheon, Korea, Strategic Airlines servicing both Brisbane and Melbourne to Honolulu, and Allegiant Airlines servicing the US West region, into the Hawai’i market,” said McCartney.

“We are very encouraged with the increases in visitor spending, arrivals and air seats as we head towards the end of the year. Together with Hawaii’s visitor industry partners, we will remain vigilant and focused to reach our targets, set at $12.6 billion in visitor spending and 7.5 million visitor arrivals for 2011.”