Maui Leads State with Double Digit Increases in Visitor Spending and Arrivals for October

By Wendy Osher

Visitor spending in Hawaii climbed 24.7 percent in October, marked by a boost in daily spending and visitor arrivals.  That translates to $190.6 million more than the $961.5 million recorded in the same month last year.

File photo by Wendy Osher. Iao Valley.

The figures were released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.  The agency reports total expenditures for the first 10 months of 2010 were $9.33 billion, an increase of 14.7 percent, and more than one billion dollars over the same period last year.

Here on Maui, visitor traffic saw the greatest increase with arrivals up 19.8 percent for the county as a whole.  Maui Island saw a 20% increase in visitor traffic, Lanai was up 22% and Molokai was up 18.3 percent.  Smaller increases were reported on Hawaii Island (+13.8%), O‘ahu (+10.3%) and Kaua‘i (+7.9%).

Visitor spending, meantime, increased double digits on all islands in October of 2010.  Maui (+32.6% to $250.6 million) led the strong growth, followed by Kaua‘i (+29.4% to $99.3 million), Lāna’i (+27.1% to $6 million), Hawai‘i Island (+23.8% to $116.5 million), O‘ahu (+20.7% to $484.2 million), and Moloka‘i (+11% to $2.1 million).

Growth in arrivals to Maui was greatest from U.S. West (+24.3%), with a noticeable increase from Japan (+5.4%).

Year to date, the average visitor to Maui Island spent $178.20 per person, per day, and spent 7.96 days on the island.  For the month of October, the average visitor spent $185.20 per person, per day, and spent 7.90 days on the island.  Per person per day spending in October on Molokai was $105.10, and on Lanai was $312.80.

“Tourism in Hawai’i continues to improve and its good performance and positive growth is expected to extend through the fourth quarter of 2010,” said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert.

“Tourism’s continued growth was one of the factors that caused the state’s economic forecast to be revised upward,” said Wienert.  “Visitor arrivals for the year are projected to increase 7.7 percent and visitor spending is expected to be $11.47 billion, an increase of 14.8 percent compared to 2009.  Continued steady growth is expected through 2011,” said Wienert.

*** If you enjoyed this story, you may also like our post on the state’s plans to Improve Maalaea Harbor on Maui.