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.