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’99 tourism up
despite Y2K dip

Visitor industry officials say they
expect better numbers this year,
thanks to aggressive marketing

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

December was a poor month for Hawaii tourism, as many travelers stayed home because of Y2K worries and higher-than-usual prices posted for the expected millennium boom that didn't happen.

But state figures issued today show that the December slip failed to destroy what ended up as a positive year for Hawaii's key industry as the total visitor count for 1999 increased 1.6 percent over 1998.

The prop that saved the year was strong business from the mainland, which more than overcame the drop in Asia-Pacific visitors, particularly those from Japan.

And visitor industry officials say their outlook for 2000 is better.

"The second six months of 1999 was much better than the first six months," said Keith Vieira, vice president and director of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. in Hawaii.

"The industry here as a whole simply got more aggressive with the market," Vieira said.

That meant spending more on advertising and developing more value-added programs to give tourists more for their money.

As a result, he said, the U.S. market grew substantially and the decreases in the Japanese market stopped.

"For 2000, there seems to be a continuation, with the exception of early January," which was when many would-be travelers -- particularly the Japanese -- stayed home because of Y2K concerns, he said.

The total December visitor count was down by 23,100, a 4.1 percent drop to 545,870 from 568,970 in December 1998.

The drop was all caused by a Japan-led fall in eastbound travelers, whose numbers for the month were down by 23,450, or 11.4 percent.

December westbound numbers were up by 350 travelers, for a 0.1 percent increase.

Still, the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism saw lots to be positive about in its year-end report.

Overall, the tourism industry ended 1999 with 6.85 million visitors, compared with 6.74 million in 1998.

Full-year westbound arrivals, mostly from the United States and Canada, were up 6.1 percent, for a total of 4.5 million compared with 4.2 million in 1998.

Eastbound visitor arrivals were down 5.9 percent for the year, a total of 2.3 million from 2.5 million in 1998.

Despite the struggle to get the numbers up, DBEDT officials saw positive indicators in the year-end numbers.

One was an increase in the average length of time visitors stayed in the islands, increasing their opportunity to spend money.

The overall average in 1999 was 8.7 days, only a small step higher than the 8.66-day average of 1998, but combined with the increase in total arrivals, it gave a 2.1 percent lift in visitor days -- the total number of visitors multiplied by the length of stay.

Another plus was a 4 percent increase in the number of first-time visitors.

Last year, 41.6 percent of all arrivals had not been in the islands before. First-timers visit more attractions and spend more money on new experiences than repeat travelers do.