Spending and arrivals rose in September for Hawaii’s visitor industry helping keep tourism during the first three quarters slightly ahead of the record pace set in 2012 and 2013.

Visitor spending in September rose 1.4 percent year-over-year to $1.1 billion, according to preliminary statistics released on Tuesday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. While visitor arrivals increased 4.1 percent to 622,163 visitors.

September visitor arrivals grew in all major markets, while spending grew in all major markets except for the U.S. East, Canada and the category called All Other Markets, which includes Asian markets outside of Japan, Oceania, Europe and Latin America.

During the first nine months of the year, higher average daily spending contributed to $11.1 billion in visitor spending, which was two percent higher than the same period last year.  Total arrivals hit 6,219,927 visitors, which was on par with the first nine months of 2013.

"Despite external challenges including increased competition from other destinations, fluctuating currency exchange rates and fuel surcharges, as well as unstable economic conditions, we continue to maintain the positive momentum experienced over the last two years," HTA President and CEO Mike McCartney said in a statement. "It is important that we continue to work towards sustaining this growth to ensure the long-term sustainability of Hawai’i’s tourism economy. "