Cruise spending
increasesThe first-quarter boost happened
despite a drop in passenger counts
While the number of days cruise ship passengers spent in Hawaii declined during the first quarter, spending rose as more luxury vessels toured the isles.
During the first quarter, passenger numbers fell 17.9 percent to 50,349 and visitor days were off by 17.8 percent, according to data released yesterday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
However, the cruise industry remains strong, said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert.
The dip in visitor days was due to repositioning in the cruise ship industry that caused smaller ships, making fewer stops, to visit the islands. But those out-of-state cruise passengers that visited spent more while they were here, helping offset the drop in numbers, Wienert said.
"Hawaii's cruise industry remains strong and we are especially pleased by the increase in average daily spending," she said.
Spending by out-of-state cruise passengers was up 16.8 percent in the first quarter as visitors spent an average of $105 per person while on shore, up from $90 in the same period last year, according to DBEDT.
Hawaii's cruise industry should get an even bigger boost when Norwegian Cruise Line begins interisland cruises in July, Wienert said.
Out-of-state cruise visitors accounted for 3.1 percent of the state's total visitors in the first quarter. More than half of these visitors were from the U.S. East, nearly a quarter were from the U.S. West and some were from Canada, Europe and other international markets.
The cruise ship routes took these visitors to Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. While the ships didn't make port calls on Molokai and Lanai, some visitors also visited those islands before or after their cruise.
Most out-of-state cruise passengers extended their stays in Hawaii. Nearly 60 percent of cruise visitors also stayed in hotels, 7 percent stayed in condominiums and 6.5 percent stayed in timeshare properties.