The number of Chinese visitors staying at the Doubletree by Hilton Alana Waikiki grew by a double-digit percentage this Spring Festival period, surpassing Golden Week traffic from Japan for the second year in a row.
"For our property, Chinese New Year is stronger and more important than Golden Week," said Doubletree General Manager Michael Wilding. "We saw that trend begin last year, and this year we’ve seen growth in the Chinese holiday period."
China is a small but growing market for Hawaii’s visitor industry. The Hawaii Tourism Authority estimated some 115,927 Chinese visited the islands in 2012, which represented a 41.8 percent year-over-year increase.
Chinese travelers in 2012 also were estimated to spend $273.3 million, a 53.4 percent gain over the prior year. These visitors spend an average of $392.4 per day, the highest daily amount of any visitor source market.
Spring Festival, which began this year Saturday with Chinese New Year’s Eve and runs through the Lantern Festival on Friday, is another opportunity for Hawaii’s visitor industry to gain traction.
"Historically, the Chinese New Year holiday has been one of the busiest seasons for the China market," said Mike McCartney, HTA president and CEO. "It is the biggest, longest holiday for Chinese, an ideal time for long-haul travel to Hawaii."
McCartney said the addition of seven China Eastern Airlines flights from Shanghai will add 1,600 seats to the market from Wednesday to Saturday, and four China Airlines charters from Taipei added 1,000 seats between Jan. 31, 2012, and Sunday. Many of the visitors, who are first-time travelers to Hawaii, will stay for five to nine days.
Hawaii Tourism China and the China International Travel Service are slated to bring 800 visitors from mainland China for this year’s festivities. Hawaii will welcome the group tonight with a VIP dinner and viewing of "Ha: Breath of Life" at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
"It is important for us to make a great impression so that they will go back to China and talk to their family and friends about how great a time they had in Hawaii and at the PCC," said the center’s director of sales, Albert Nihipali, who began efforts to bring the group to Hawaii during a November visit to China.
Anticipating continued China growth beyond the holiday, HTA has set 2013 targets of 162,027 visitors, a 39.7 percent increase from 2012.
