Visitor arrivals down in June, but spending up sharply
The number of visitors traveling to Hawaii fell slightly in June but the amount they spent rose sharply, the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported today.
The 607,264 visitors who came to the state in June represented a 2.9 decline from June 2010, HTA said. They spent $1.04 billion, 13.1 percent more than they did a year earlier.
Through the first six months of the year visitor arrivals totaled 3.57 million, up 4.7 percent for the same period in 2010. Spending for the comparable period rose 18.4 percent to $6.04 billion.
HTA President and CEO Mike McCartney said the state is on track to meet its target of 7.3 million visitors and $12.6 billion in spending by year-end.
Arrivals from the mainland and Japan declined in June, while the number of visitors from Canada and “other” countries rose, according to HTA.
Of the major islands only Maui experienced an increase in visitors, with arrivals rising by 2.2 percent to 190,761. On the Big Island arrivals fell 6.3 percent to 108,774, while on Oahu arrivals fell 4.5 percent to 372,729. The number of visitors traveling to Lanai was fractionally lower, falling to 5,815 in June from 5,824 a year earlier. On Molokai visitor arrivals rose by 10.3 percent to 4,533.