Maui Visitors Spent $314.4M in July, Up 15%

Front Street. Courtesy of HVCB.

By Sonia Isotov

Total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawai‘i in July 2012 rose 17.8% (or +$193.8 million) compared to the previous year to $1.28 billion, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Higher daily spending and a 7.8% growth in total arrivals (to 720,355 visitors) contributed to this increase.

On Maui, in July 2012, noticeably higher daily spending (+14.6% to $191 per person) and growth in arrivals (+1.8%) resulted in a 14.9% growth in Maui’s total visitor expenditures to $314.4 million. Increased arrivals to Maui from US West (+3.1%) and Japan (+12.7%) offset lower arrivals from US East (-3.4%) and Canada (-3.8%).

Total visitor expenditures for Maui visitors rose 21.4% from the first seven months of 2011, to $2.2 billion. Of the total 1,364,721 visitors (+5.4%) through July 2012, six out of ten visitors stayed on Maui exclusively.

Overall, Hawaii’s tourism economy continues to be on pace for a record year through July as the state welcomed 1,800 more visitors each day and an additional $17 dollars per person in daily spending compared to 2011.

“Year-to-date visitor spending has generated an estimated $915 million in state tax revenues and will help to sustain more than 160,000 Hawai‘i jobs in 2012,” said Mike McCartney, the president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, in a written statement.

“We anticipate that the momentum from the positive increase in visitor arrivals and spending will continue through the second half of the year. As a result of these positive changes, last month, the HTA revised its targets upward for 2012-2014 with arrivals and spending from US, Canada, Japan, Oceania and Europe outpacing original targets set back in September 2011.”

Japanese tourists enjoy a day on Maui. Courtesy of HVCB.

For the first seven months of 2012, total visitor expenditures rose 20.8% to $8.40 billion, led by double-digit growth from Japan (+27.1% to $1.41 billion), Canada (+11.7% to $636.8 million) and all others (+68.2% to $1.59 billion).

Total arrivals statewide grew 9.8%% to 4,652,621 visitors. Arrivals from all other markets climbed 28.1% from the first seven months of 2011. Total visitor expenditures increased on all Hawaiian Islands compared to year-to-date 2011.

Among Hawaii’s top visitor markets, arrivals by air from US West grew 3.4% from July 2011 to 299,072 visitors, the ninth consecutive month of growth. Total US West visitor expenditures increased 10.3% to $436.7 million. Arrivals from US East in July 2012 were similar to last July at 166,944 visitors. However, increased daily spending boosted US East total visitor expenditures (+15.1%) to $347.8 million.

Japanese arrivals rose 21.5% to 135,764 visitors in July 2012, but remained lower than the July 1997 record of 203,827 visitors. Higher daily spending also contributed to a 31.6% jump in total Japanese visitor expenditures to $248.8 million.

Canadian arrivals totaled 25,489 visitors, relatively unchanged from July 2011; while total visitor expenditures increased 1.8% to $46.3 million. Total visitor expenditures (+29.9% to $203.4 million) and arrivals (+24.6%) from all other markets also showed strong growth compared to July 2011.

The HTA’s visitor statistics can also be found on the HTA website at http://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/research.