Visitors to isles
decline 3.9%

Vacationers, however,
stayed here longer

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Slammed with a 15 percent decline in tourists from Asia and the Pacific, Hawaii's visitor industry saw a significant downturn in September, with a 3.9 percent drop in total arrivals compared with September 1997.

But the news wasn't all bad, said the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau in issuing its latest monthly report.

Both westbound and eastbound visitors stayed longer than last year, increasing the average daily census, which is the number of visitors in Hawaii on an average day, the HVCB said yesterday. A higher daily census usually means more opportunity for tourists to spend money, visitor industry experts say.

The average length of stay among visitors from all points was 8.11 days last month, a 12.9 percent increase from 7.18 days in the year-earlier month.

The average length of stay among eastbound visitors -- mostly from Japan but including arrivals from other countries around the Pacific Rim -- increased dramatically to 6.09 days, a 32.4 percent rise from 4.6 days in September 1997. However, the HVCB cautioned that the September 1997 eastbound length of stay was unusually low. Overall, 532,130 visitors came to the islands last month, 21,640 fewer than the September 1997 total of 553,770.

Westbound arrivals -- from the mainland, Canada and Europe -- were up a healthy 5.7 percent at 314,360, an increase of 16,880 from 297,480 in September 1997. Eastbound arrivals dropped by 38,520 to a September total of 217,770 compared with 256,290 in the year-earlier month.

Since the Asia-Pacific visitors outspend westbound visitors by nearly two-to-one, their decline more than wiped out the economic gain from the increase in westbound arrivals.

"While the increase in visitor days is a good sign, the decline in total arrivals makes it imperative that Hawaii continues its aggressive marketing in both the U.S. and Japan markets," said Seiji Naya, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.

This was the second month in which DBEDT and the HVCB issued the visitor report jointly, reflecting the new structure that is arising from the creation of the Hawaii Tourism Authority and the passing of the statistics responsibility from the HVCB to DBEDT.

Tony Vericella, HVCB president and chief executive officer, said the HVCB is working to capitalize on the increase in business from the mainland. "To maintain the U.S. momentum, HVCB and industry partners have launched a nationwide 'More Hawaii' campaign, featuring targeted magazines, direct mail and newspapers," Vericella said.

In addition, for the next two months the HVCB will be running television advertising in the "colder" cities across the northern mainland, Vericella said.

In Japan, the HVCB will be running nationwide advertisements through the fall and Hawaii will have a major presence later this month at the World Travel Fair in Tokyo, which Vericella described as the largest consumer show in Japan.

All of the neighbor islands except Molokai showed increases in their tourist numbers for September. But Oahu -- the hardest hit by the Asian decline since many eastbound visitors seldom travel to other islands -- showed a 10.3 percent decline in visitors compared with September 1997.