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State sets tourism
record in 2000

A 7.6 percent jump in December
lifted total arrivals for the year
to nearly 7 million

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By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Hawaii had a 7.6 percent surge in December tourist arrivals, hosting 579,949 visitors compared to 539,154 in the year-earlier month.

The improvement for last month was largely because December 1999 was an unusually slow month, as millennium transition worries and higher-then-usual prices for millennium events kept many travelers at home.

But last year overall was very strong, nearly crossing the 7 million-tourist mark and setting a record, as mainland tourists poured into the islands, making up for flat business from Japan. The visitor count for all of 2000 was 6,975,866, up 3.5 percent from 6,741,037 in 1999.

"The remarkable performance of the visitor industry in 2000 continues a growth trend, showing that Hawaii has reasserted itself as a competitor in the global tourism market," said Seiji Naya, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, which issued the monthly report early today.

"The record numbers also demonstrate the effect of improved marketing and reflect the positive changes taking place in Hawaii's economy," Naya said.

U.S. business was very strong, with arrivals on flights from the mainland reaching a total of 355,774 last month, up 5.2 percent from 338,038 in December 1999. All U.S. regions reported higher December business than a year earlier. Domestic arrivals for the year totaled 4.45 million, up 4.6 percent from 4.26 million in 1999.

A big boost in tourist traffic from Japan, with no millennium worries keeping them close to home, boosted international arrivals to 224,175 last month, up 11.5 percent from 201,116 international arrivals in December 1999. For all of 2000, international arrivals totaled 2.5 million, up 1.6 percent from 2.49 million in 1999.

"With no Y2K concerns and an added holiday to extend the Christmas and New Year season, arrivals by Japanese from international destinations jumped 24 percent for the month," state economist Pearl Imada Iboshi said. Japanese tourists make up about 70 percent of the international visitor count.

Iboshi said the DBEDT survey results match with a report from JTB Ltd., Japan's biggest travel company, that 83,000 Japanese came to Hawaii from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3.

Japanese arrivals on international flights from all sources totaled 158,143 last month, up from 127, 584 in December 1999. Counting those who visited the United States before coming to Hawaii, overall Japanese arrivals totaled 160,494 last month, up 23.1 percent from 130,405 in the previous December.

Japanese arrivals through all of 2000 totaled 1.86 million, up 1.7 percent from 1.83 million in 1999.

December arrivals were up on all islands.

Oahu tourist traffic in December was up 9.2 percent at 399,408, from 365,803 in the year-earlier month. Kauai's December tourist traffic was up 6 percent for a total of 81,851, from 77,247 in the previous December.

Maui arrivals last month were up 10.3 percent from the previous December, with a count of 178,382 compared to 161,664. Big Island December traffic was up 0.4 percent, with a total of 104,202 from 103,762 in December 1999.

Lanai had an improvement of 31.4 percent, for a December total of 8,695, compared to 6,618 in December 1999. Molokai had a 37.6 percent increase to 8,192 arrivals last month, from 5,956 in the previous December.

The average length of stay by visitors from all sources dropped 2.2 percent to 9.72 days days in December, from 9.93 days in the year-earlier month. The full-year average length of stay was down 0.1 percent at 8.89 days, from 8.9 days.

In both the month-to-month and year-to-year comparisons, however, the sheer volume of tourist arrivals pushed up the visitor-days figure, the number of tourists multiplied by the number of days they stayed.

December total visitor days, 5.64 million, were up 5.2 percent from 5.36 million in the year-earlier month. Full-year visitor days were up 3.3 percent at 62.02 million, from 60.02 million in 1999. Economists say the visitor-days numbers are important because they help measure the tourists' opportunity to spend money in the islands.