Isles’ Japan
tourism drop costly

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

The dip in tourist arrivals from Japan in July cost businesses in Hawaii about $15 million in decreased visitor spending, the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau said today.

The HVCB said the islands had 183,240 visitors from Japan in July, a drop of 5.3 percent or 10,180 people from 193,420 in July 1997.

"This is a significant decline which, combined with the year-to-date loss of $98 million (from Japanese spending), has taken its toll on Hawaii's hotel occupancies, retail sales and attractions and restaurant receipts," said Tony Vericella, HVCB president and chief executive officer.

The July decline brought arrivals from Japan through the first seven months of this year to 1.15 million, down 3.2 percent or nearly 38,000 people from 1.18 million in the equivalent part of 1997.

Despite the drop, the Japanese visitor business was the brightest spot for Hawaii in a gloomy Asia-Pacific tourism business. The other countries -- such as Korea, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand -- together make up about one-fourth of Hawaii's eastbound visitor business and produced 21.6 percent fewer travelers to Hawaii in July than they did in July 1997.

For the year through July, arrivals from Asia-Pacific points other than Japan were down by 100,850, or 21.9 percent, at 358,990 compared with 459,840 in the first seven months of 1997.

Hawaii continues to do better than other destinations competing for the Japanese tourist business, the HVCB said.

The Japan National Tourist Organization's figures show that overseas travel by Japanese in the first five months of this year was down 3.1 percent compared with the equivalent period of last year. Japanese travel to Hawaii dropped 2.2 percent in the same period, JNTO said.

Hawaii increased its share of the total Japanese overseas travel market to 12.9 percent in the first five months of 1998 from 12.3 percent in the first five months of 1997, the HVCB said.

To boost travel from Japan, the HVCB will conduct newspaper and magazine promotions there through the rest of the fall, Hawaii seminars in Tokyo next month and tours to Hawaii for Japanese travel agents, Vericella said.