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Visitor tally
in isles sets 6-
month record

If the pace continues,
officials say, 2000 could be a
record year, as well

Tour firm to fly direct daily flights to
Hawaii from New York and Chicago

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By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

A rush of visitors to the islands in June pushed arrivals figures for the first half of the year to a record and set the visitor industry on track for a record year as well, according to state figures issued today.

Helped by the 30,000-strong Lions Clubs International convention, a recovery in business from Japan and Americans' increased interest in visiting the islands, arrivals rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier, for a total of 622,822 travelers last month compared with 574,999 in June 1999, the figures from the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism show.

"If Hawaii can maintain this strong growth during the second half of the year, we will exceed (for the first time) 7 million visitors in 2000," said Seiji Naya, DBEDT director.

Hawaii visitor count The number of visitors coming to Hawaii is on a record pace. Here are the figures compared to the same time period last year: FIRST HALF 2000 NUMBER OF VISITORS PCT. CHANGE Domestic 2,236,674 +7.5% International 1,235,755 +0.9% Total 3,472,429 +5.0% BY ISLAND NUMBER OF VISITORS PCT. CHANGE Oahu 2,371,009 +4.4% Kauai 540,239 +4.8% Maui 1,119,315 +2.3% Molokai 30,510 -9.7% Lanai 41,328 -18.3% Big Island 643,198 +2.1% Source: State DBEDT

The existing record was set in 1990, when there were 6.97 million visitors but that number is likely to be revised downward, because it was later found to include many returning residents. Last year Hawaii had 6.85 million visitors. Visitor industry officials say the boom continued through July, bookings are strong for the rest of the summer and tourists are spending more as well. The high demand also allows the hotel operators get more money for their rooms.

Ron Wright, Continental Airlines regional marketing head in Hawaii and a member of the Hawaii Tourism Authority board, said the increases are due partly to marketing by the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau, which is funded by the HTA.

"We've seen a very strong demand for travel to Hawaii across the U.S. which I credit, in part, to the improved marketing efforts of the HVCB," Wright said. "We anticipate continued strong bookings through the rest of the year."

Loren Shim, assistant vice president for marketing at Aston Hotels & Resorts, said his company also is having a strong summer.

"July and August are running somewhere around 13 percent" above last year's period, he said.

Revenues are up 13 percent and about half of that comes from increased occupancy and the other half from getting higher prices for the rooms, he said.

Arrivals on domestic flights reached 422,653 in June, an increase of 11.3 percent from 379,758 in June 1999.

International flights brought 200,169 people to the islands last month, up 2.5 percent from 195,241 in June 1999.

Arrivals from Japan totaled 153,116 last month, up 5.9 percent from 144,529 in the year-earlier month.

Hotel bookings are strong all the way through September, said Keith Vieira, vice president and director of Hawaii operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., which operates the Sheraton and Westin hotels.

"June was a great month for us. All hotels ran well with 90 percent (occupancy) in most of them," he said. July has shown "a strong continuation" of the solid-bookings trend, Vieira said.

Waikiki is virtually sold out for the rest of the summer, as are Maui and Kauai, he said.

Although posted prices this year are not significantly higher than last year's, hotels were able to improve their income, Vieira said. They did not have to offer discount rates to fill empty rooms, he said.

There have been reports that travelers are having a hard time finding seats on flights from the mainland to Hawaii.

Still, the DBEDT estimated that the number of seats on domestic airlines was up 14.7 percent last month from June 1999.

Seats on international flights to Hawaii were up 2.1 percent, DBEDT said.

"This is the third consecutive month that visitor arrivals grew by more than 8 percent," DBEDT director Naya said.

"We have seen increases every month since February and are headed towards a record year."

Visitor days in June -- the number of visitors multiplied by the length of their stay -- rose 7.9 percent to 5.56 million from a year-earlier 5.15 million.

However, the average length of stay was down slightly at 8.93 days, from 8.96 in June 1999, because international visitors trimmed their stays to an average of 5.71 days, from a year-earlier 6.21 days.