Mainland visitors
account for 75%
of isles’ tourismThe number of people coming
from Japan falls a third in a yearMaui beach tops best-beaches list
Visitors from the U.S. mainland now make up more than three-quarters of Hawaii's total tourist count, the result of a continuing slide in visitors from Japan, a trend that could hurt tourism spending this year.
Visitor arrivals from the U.S. West and U.S. East rose by double digits in April from the same month last year, while Japanese arrivals fell by one-third, according to a monthly report put out today by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Overall arrivals to the state were flat compared with last year.
The loss of Japanese visitors is hitting Waikiki. Oahu had 10.3 percent fewer arrivals than in April 2002, which is bad news for the industry, considering that last year's Waikiki arrivals were hurt by the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Kauai, the Big Island, Maui, Molokai and Lanai all had increases in overall visitors, the result of their popularity with U.S. mainland tourists.
On an annual basis, Hawaii has not depended on the U.S. mainland for tourism so heavily since the mid-1960s.
International arrivals, driven by Japanese visits, reached a peak of more than 40 percent of Hawaii arrivals in the mid-1990s, but Japanese arrivals have been sliding since 1997. In the first four months of this year, international arrivals made up 30 percent of total visits.
Two-thirds of all Hawaii-bound flights originate in seven states in the U.S. West.
This month, Japanese arrivals statewide are down 38 percent from last year, which is the result of Japan's economic weakness compounded by fears of severe acute respiratory syndrome, experts say.
"SARS is going to be like 9/11," said Sharon Weiner, group vice president of DFS Hawaii, at a recent committee meeting of the Hawaii Tourism Authority state marketing agency.
Gov. Linda Lingle has delayed a post-Iraqi war trip to Japan until July because Japanese industry leaders have been saying a delegation to the country in the current environment wouldn't help tourism. The tourism authority is pinning its hopes for improvement in Japanese arrivals on the fall season.
The loss of Japanese tourists hurts spending, because the Japanese spend more than other Hawaii visitors, an average $242 a day. In comparison, U.S. West visitors spend $151 a day while U.S. East visitors spend $163.
The Hawaii tourism authority has lowered its targets for statewide visitor spending this year to $10.4 billion from $11.1 billion. Last year, visitor spending rose to $9.8 billion from $9.2 billion.
Some 479,371 visitors came to Hawaii last month, up slightly from 476,046 last year, but down 14 percent from 558,253 visitors in April 2001.
Domestic visits rose 12.2 percent to 375,597 arrivals from 334,611, with much of the growth coming from California and the mid-Atlantic region. International arrivals dwindled 26.6 percent to 103,774 from 141,435.
Ted Liu, director of DBEDT, said he's pleased with the domestic arrivals. "The April increase was a welcomed contrast to previous trends during the month following the 1991 war with Iraq and the month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack," Liu said.
Dept. of Business, Economic Development & Tourism
BACK TO TOP |
Maui’s Kaanapali Beach
tops annual best beaches list
White coral sand, clear emerald water, dry sunny weather and controlled development along the shore has earned Maui's Kaanapali Beach the distinction of being named the nation's best beach.
The No. 1 spot in the "America's Best Beaches" rankings being released Friday means Kaanapali won't appear on future lists: Previous winners are automatically ineligible, including six other Hawaii best sands, in order to give other beaches a chance to shine.
The latest ineligible beach is St. Joseph Peninsula State Park in the Florida Panhandle which was No. 1 last year.
This year, Hawaii has three other beaches in the top 10 - Kauai's Hanalei Bay, the Big Island's Makalawena Beach, and Hanauma Bay on Oahu.
Kaanapali earned the top spot in the 13th annual rankings compiled by Stephen P. Leatherman, a top coastal expert and a professor at Florida International University in Miami.
"What I like about Kaanapali is you've got a nice strand of beach there, and you've got good hotels but they're not crowding the beach there," Leatherman said in a telephone interview from Miami.
As part of his work as a coastal scientist, Leatherman said he visits more than 100 beaches each year, including the 30-40 top contenders for his annual list. He last visited Hawaii during summer 2002, he said.
It was the seventh time that a Hawaiian beach topped the rankings, which have given Leatherman the nickname "Dr. Beach." The last one was Kauai's Poipu Beach Park in 2001.
Florida had three beaches on the list this year: Fort DeSoto Park, Caladesi Island State Park and Cape Florida State Park. North Carolina had two, Oracoke Island and Cape Hatteras, for the first time and New York's Long Island had one, Main Beach in East Hampton.
A master-planned resort home to six resort hotels and four condominiums, Kaanapali was created in 1962 by sugar companies who discovered the land was too sandy for growing sugar, said Lynn Erfer, spokeswoman for the Kaanapali Resort Association.
In addition to its clear water, fine sand and good weather, Leatherman said the three-mile long Kaanapali Beach "maintains a critical balance between nature and the built environment." The resort has 4,600 hotel rooms and condominiums for rent that are typically 80 percent full and some 400 full-time residents, which means up to 3,000 people may use the beach - which as state property also is accessible to the public - on any given day.
Access includes a ban on motorized boats and watercraft each year between Dec. 15 and May 15 to allow guests to watch the humpback whales that migrate to Maui waters each winter, said Erfer. Every year, the whales travel more than 3,500 miles from Alaska to Hawaii's warm waters to mate, give birth and care for their calves.
"Not only do we have a beautiful beach, but we have a tranquil beach for whale watching," Erfer said.
The association also has an architectural review board that discourages further building on the beach, and the hotels pitch in to keep the beach clean, she said.
"The thing that makes it good and the thing they did right is that they set the development back," Leatherman said. "If it had been smack on the beach it would have never been on the list."
Many of the beaches on this year's list also made last year's list, with the exceptions of newcomers Cape Hatteras and Makalawena, which is about four miles north of the Kona Airport on a tract of land between two portions of Kekaha State Park.
"This is a gorgeous little getaway beach, an oasis away from the lava desert," Leatherman said. "The contrast there is really something, it's a lovely sight."
A lot of Hawaii beaches aren't considered because of dangerous currents or rip tides, but tranquil spots such as Hanalei Bay are favorites, he said.
"I like that one because it's a big white crescent sand beach, anchored by mountains on either end, and there's a funky village there," Leatherman said. "I just enjoy going there, it's just a huge beach, got that fishing pier, it's just a beautiful area."
Hanauma Bay on Oahu, a sandy crescent nestled behind an extinct volcano with an abundance of tropical fish, is a popular snorkeling spot that recently underwent some $10.6 million in improvements, including the addition of a Marine Education Center.
"You get down there, it's got palm trees, and boy, those fish, they're just everywhere," said Leatherman.
Kaanapali was third in the rankings last year, while Hanalei fell from second to fourth, and Hanauma Bay rose from 10th to eighth.
Fort DeSoto Park rose from fourth to second, Caladesi Island remained in fifth place, Oracoke rose from sixth to third, East Hampton rose from eighth to sixth and Cape Florida stayed in ninth place.
The rankings
The best beaches for 2003, according to rankings compiled by Stephen P. Leatherman, a top coastal expert and a professor at Florida International University in Miami, known by the nickname "Dr. Beach."1. Kaanapali, Hawaii
2. Fort De Soto Park, Fla.
3. Oracoke Island, N.C.
4. Hanalei Bay, Hawaii
5. Caladesi Island State Park, Fla.
6. Main Beach, East Hampton, N.Y.
7. Makalawena Beach, Hawaii
8. Hanauma Bay, Hawaii
9. Cape Florida State Park, Fla.
10. Cape Hatteras, N.C.
