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Tourists relax on the sands of Kuhio Beach in Waikiki with hotels in the background.
Visitor arrivals and spending has fallen over the same time last year for the third month in a row, an unwelcome trend that’s expected to continue into 2014.
Total visitor expenditures in November declined 2.1 percent to $1.1 billion, while arrivals decreased 5.5 percent to 620,051, according to preliminary data released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The poor performance was largely due to a 7.3 percent drop in arrivals to 254,122 from the U.S. West, the state’s largest market. The drop resulted in spending from that region falling 7.5 percent to $368 million. There also were 30.5 percent fewer cruise ship visitors last month.
U.S. East visitor expenditures also plunged 15 percent to $201 million due to 9.2 percent fewer arrivals to 105,834 and lower daily spending.
Japan arrivals were comparable to a year go as they totaled 122,484, but the market recorded 5 percent lower daily spending to $309 per person and a shorter length of stay, which led to a 6.5 percent decline in Japanese visitor expenditures to $209.6 million.
The state’s smaller Canadian market posted stable arrivals at 44,650 visitors and 9.2 percent higher daily spending to $171 per person, which boosted Canadian visitor expenditures to $98.5 million. There were 77,892 visitors from all other markets, roughly the same as November 2012.
Despite the declines, the visitor industry’s year-to-date performance continues to outpace the same period last year. Year-to-date expenditures were up 2.9 percent to $13.2 billion, while total visitors were 3 percent higher at 7.5 million.
