Visitor arrivals declined slightly in August and spending was flat compared with the same month last year, but year-to-date results for Hawaii’s visitor industry continue on pace to surpass 2013’s record numbers. 

In August, Hawaii welcomed 730,707 visitors, 1.3 percent fewer than came during August 2013, according to preliminary statistics from the Hawaii Tourism Authority. These visitors spent $1.3 billion, or .5 percent less than those who came during the same time last year. 

August arrivals by air from Hawaii’s core U.S. West market rose 1.9 percent to 304,526, while spending grew 2.4 percent to $444.9 million. Arrivals from all other markets, which include emerging markets like Asian nations outside of Japan, rose 6.1 percent to 106,105 visitors and spending grew 7.3 percent to $236.8 million.

However, Hawaii experienced August decreases from its eastern U.S., Japan and Canadian markets. Arrivals from the eastern U.S., Hawaii’s second largest visitor market, fell 2.9 percent to 143,444 visitors and spending dropped by 2.3 percent to $296 million. 

Expenditures by visitors from Japan, Hawaii’s largest international market, dropped 9.2 percent to $235.4 million in August as a result of an 8.2 percent decline in arrivals to 150,568 visitors. Likewise, arrivals from Hawaii’s Canadian visitor market fell 7.6 percent to 26,065 in August 2014 and spending dropped 1.5 percent to $50.8 million. 

But through August, visitor arrivals grew .1 percent to 5.59 million and spending rose 2 percent to nearly $10 billion, which translated into nearly $1.1 billion in total tax revenue for the state.

“For the first eight months of the year, an average of 23,000 visitors arrived to the Hawaiian islands each day, contributing to an average daily census of 208,000 visitors. This generated an estimated $41 million in expenditures per day, 2 percent more than the same period last year,” said HTA President and CEO Mike McCartney. 

McCartney said HTA will continue to expand its “efforts in developing markets, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, to diversify Hawaii’s tourism profile and balance slight dips in arrivals from our core North America market.”

He said China, which saw year-to-date arrivals grow by 30.1 percent, and Korea, which experienced a 20.2 percent rise in year-to-date arrivals, are two particularly promising markets. McCartney said that both continue to increase by double digits, year-over-year, with China being the highest daily spenders of all markets.