Visitor arrivals
break recordMore mainland tourists came
to Hawaii last month than
in any previous May
Hawaii's visitor industry enjoyed a tremendous May and the climate for summer is hot, but now the challenge is to keep business from cooling during fall's traditional off-season.
Continued growth in domestic visitor arrivals, combined with another monthly surge in travelers from Japan, led to a 17 percent increase in total visitors last month from a year ago, the state reported yesterday. In all, 549,865 visitors came to the state in May and spent $789.1 million, bring total spending in the first five months of this year to more than $4 billion.
More people from the U.S. mainland visited Hawaii -- 392,335 -- than in any other May on record, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
"The numbers show that the domestic market is choosing Hawaii, and that we've positioned ourselves well in our base market," said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert.
Although U.S. West visitors, Hawaii's largest visitor group, contributed the most to the state's economy in May, the U.S. East market is also showing strong growth.
According to state visitor arrival records for May, U.S. West visitors were the highest overall spenders, contributing $297.3 million to the state's economy. U.S. East visitors, though fewer in number than U.S. West visitors, spent nearly the same amount, contributing $226.5 million to the economy.
"It's a pretty encouraging report," said David Carey, chief executive of Outrigger Enterprises Inc. "I've continued to be buoyed by strength of the U.S. East market."
U.S. East tourists are desirable because they are primarily first-time visitors, who tend to stay longer and spend more, Wienert said, adding that strong U.S. East arrivals in May helped the state to increase the number of first-time visitors by 2 percent.
While the state has a long way to go, the Japan visitor market is also showing improvement, Wienert said.
The islands hosted 110,830 visitors from Japan, a 54.3 percent increase from last year, when arrivals took a big hit from the war with Iraq and SARS and terrorism fears.
"The numbers show that we've gotten over that hump and Japanese are traveling again," Wienert said.
Japan's strengthening economy and the state's marketing efforts have fueled travel desire, she said.
Golden Week, which ran from April 26 to May 5, reaped more than double the visitor counts from last year, Wienert said.
The state's visitor industry should continue to enjoy the rewards of a strong domestic market and a rebounding international market at least through summer. Still, keeping the momentum during the travel industry's historic off-season in fall could be more challenging, Wienert said.
"There's a saying in tourism that winter and summer tide you over for spring and fall," she said. "Some indicators are saying it may slow down for fall."
Continued fears of terrorism, instability in the Middle East, and economic factors could temper plans to travel, Wienert said.
Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays, a travel company that will send an estimated 500,000 visitors to the islands this year, reports that while business to Hawaii is up more than 15 percent from last year, momentum has lessened.
"Hawaii enjoyed a tremendous first quarter, but business is showing signs of slowing," said Ken Phillips, public relations manager for the company.
People were in a rush to secure their vacation plans earlier than usual this year, so now the challenge is to entice the "fence sitters" to come to Hawaii, Phillips said, adding that travel wholesalers are likely to offer discounts and enhanced offers to stimulate business.
During the fall, the state has to rely more heavily on niche markets, such as the growing wedding and honeymoon business, Wienert said.
"We've launched several marketing campaigns to entice fall travelers to come to Hawaii," she said, adding that road shows like Aloha Live! and the Aloha Arts Season are designed to bolster demand during the off-season. Hawaii's ranking by Modern Bride as the best honeymoon destination in the world can't hurt either, Wienert said.
Oahu, which had the largest share of Japanese visitors, had the strongest tourism growth in May with a 20.5 percent rise in visitor arrivals. The Big Island had a 6.7 percent increase in arrivals, Maui County had a 2.8 percent lift and Kauai arrivals rose by 1.8 percent.
For the year through May, more than 2.7 million visitors came to the islands, up 9 percent compared with the same period last year.