Arrivals on rebound

Hotel occupancy numbers show
a similar recovery pattern

A snapshot of tourist arrivals

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By Tim Ruel
truel@starbulletin.com

Visitor arrivals in September rebounded from last year's terrorist attacks, but did not reach levels set in 2000 or 1999.

A total of 462,139 visitors came to the state last month, up 28 percent from 360,116 in September 2001 but down from 533,849 in 2000 and 528,769 in 1999, according to a monthly report from the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. The bounce over last year was apparent in all markets, and on all islands.

But the recoil was not strong enough to propel any one visitor market above 2000 and 1999 levels.

A total of 166,172 U.S. West visitors came to the isles in September, up from 140,195 visitors last year. U.S. West arrivals fell 5.9 percent from 176,573 in 2000.

Japanese arrivals in September rose to 126,492 from 89,817 in 2001, but fell 20 percent from 157,524 in 2000. U.S. East travelers increased to 101,181 from 78,548 last year, though they were down 17 percent from 121,328 in 2000. In 2000, the islands set a record for the most visitor arrivals, at nearly 7 million.

The average length of stay rose 13 percent in September to 11.33 days for the domestic market, and fell 6 percent to 6.53 days in the international market, the state said. As a result, visitor days bounced to 4.45 million in September, the second-highest on record for that month. The highest was 4.55 million, set in 1997, the state said.

Visitor days were boosted by the domestic market, which set a record for September at 3.38 million.

"While growth rates were extremely high in our international market, arrival levels for international visitors are still below pre-Sept. 11th levels," said Seiji F. Naya, director of the state business department. Most tourist destinations are dealing with a soft international market, Naya noted.

September 2001 visitor statistics were skewed because of the immediate impact of the attacks on the airlines. A two-day grounding of domestic flights and a three-day grounding of international flights hurt the visitor count and artificially boosted the average length of stay. Meanwhile, seven international flights were temporarily diverted to the isles, lifting arrivals and shortening the length of stay, though to a lesser degree.

For the first nine months of the year, Hawaii arrivals were down 4.8 percent compared to last year, though the gap is likely to close before the end of 2002. Hawaii's strongest market, U.S. West visitors, began beating year-ago levels in May, and were up 2.1 percent this year before the data skewed in September.

Other, more distant markets have not done so well for Hawaii. For the year-to-date leading up to September, U.S. East arrivals were down 5.4 percent, Japan was down 21 percent and Canada was down 17 percent.

There were positive developments in September. Cruise ship passengers jumped to 24,112 from 12,626 last year. Honeymoon travelers increased 65 percent to 63,922 from 38,800, continuing a year-long trend that has been fed primarily by the Japanese market.

Every island saw increases in visitors over last year, though only Lanai and Molokai beat year 2000 arrivals. Of the major islands, the Big Island came closest to 2000 levels, with 84,917 visitors in September 2002, down 8.8 percent from 93,124 in September 2000.

Oahu had the weakest performance during the same period, with arrivals falling 16 percent to 314,525 from 374,961.