July set record for visitor arrivals

More visitors came to Hawaii in July than in any other month in the state’s history, keeping the state within range of reaching a 10 million visitor arrival benchmark by the year’s end.

Despite a slowdown in visitor arrivals to the Big Island because of the Kilauea eruption, statewide arrivals in July rose by over 5 percent to 939,360, while spending increased by almost 5 percent to about $1.7 billion, according to preliminary statistics released Thursday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Hawaii island, which has not rebounded from the eruption that began in May, was the only major island not to post visitor arrival and spending gains in July. Arrivals to the Big Island fell almost 13 percent to 153,906, and visitor spending decreased just over 7 percent to $201 million. There was a nearly 40 percent drop in July’s visitor day trips, and the island saw its average daily census fall more than 8 percent to 36,753 visitors.

United Airlines, the No. 1 carrier to the islands, said it experienced an approximately 20 percent decrease in passengers to Hilo and Kona because of the volcano. It trimmed its daily service to Hilo to five trips a week and cut its San Francisco-to- Kona service from three times a day to twice daily. The carrier said bookings have increased as the eruption subsides, and it plans to reinstate capacity according to demand.

HTA released over $2 million in emergency funding to promote travel to the Big Island, said George Szigeti, HTA president and CEO. Szigeti said he anticipates bookings will “rise and become more in line with what is being reported by Oahu, Maui County and Kauai.”

Despite the drop in Hawaii island performance in July, year-to-date visitor arrivals statewide rose nearly 8 percent to 5.9 million, and spending increased about 10 percent to more than $10.9 billion. Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island realized growth in visitor spending and arrivals over the first seven months compared with the same period last year.

The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism has forecast that by year’s end statewide visitor arrivals could increase by more than 6 percent to 9.96 million, and spending could grow more than 9 percent to nearly $18.5 billion.

“The forecast was released in August prior to the hurricane but took into account some of the softness in the summer because of the volcano,” said Jennifer Chun, HTA director of research.

It’s still too early to tell how flooding on some isles and Hurricane Lane, which caused cancellations and a fall in future bookings, might affect Hawaii’s year-end tourism performance.

The state economist estimated that the approach of Hurricane Lane depressed passenger counts by 10,000, which translates to approximately $18.6 million in lost spending, said Christine Hirasa, DBET spokeswoman. However, she said visitors who canceled trips but re-booked later could offset the potential decline.

Mufi Hannemann, president and CEO of the Hawaii Lodging &Tourism Association, said Tropical Storm Lane-related cancellations have taken place, and “forward bookings are a real concern.”

“Booking softness could persist and be a real problem going forward if a strong message doesn’t get sent out that Hawaii is open for business,” Hannemann said.

Sean Dee, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Outrigger Enterprises Group, said Tropical Storm Lane caused occupancy to drop about 10 to 15 percentage points during a two-week period.

“We’re hoping that it comes back quickly,” Dee said.

Keith Vieira, principal of KV &Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said impacts from Lane are unlikely to last as long as impacts from the Kilauea eruption. However, Vieira said publicity about continued flooding and Hurricanes Miriam and Norman could cause people to rethink their Hawaii vacation plans.

“People may say, ‘Let’s wait,’” Vieira said. “That makes it harder for us to recover from Kilauea and take advantage of the Sept. 22 reopening of some of the closed portions of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, which is Hawaii’s No. 1 visitor attraction.”