Tourists break record but not by much

March marked the 13th consecutive month that visitor arrivals to Hawaii have trumped previous records, and industry leaders are trying to maintain the record-breaking momentum as tourism rides out its slow season.

Visitor arrivals bumped up 0.8 percent to 786,262 from 780,056 in the year-earlier month, according to preliminary statistics released Thursday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Those visitors spent $1.3 billion, or $182.60 per person per day. The total spending was up just 0.3 percent from $1.26 billion during the same time a year ago.

March’s numbers helped boost year-to-date arrivals up 3.6 percent to 2.2 million and spending up 2.6 percent to $4 billion.

“Hawaii’s tourism industry is fortunate to have enjoyed a strong first quarter, one that has the state ahead of last year’s record-setting pace,” said George Szigeti, president and CEO of HTA.

Domestic visitors made up the majority of March visitors, as 316,591 visitors came from the U.S. West and 176,894 came from the U.S. East. The number of U.S. visitors in March increased from the prior period by 4.2 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

Visitors from the mainland spent $754.8 million in March — U.S. West spent $451.6 million and U.S. East spent $303.2 million.

Szigeti said stakeholders must band together and help the industry continue to grow “so the Hawaii brand continues to be very strong.”

To support tourism growth, the agency recently launched a video campaign that reminds residents about the benefits of the state’s biggest employer. The campaign comes as the state tries to maintain the performance that brought a record 8.6 million travelers to Hawaii last year, the fourth straight year of record-breaking visitor arrivals.

International visitors in March, excluding those from Japan and Canada, grew 6.8 percent to 92,413. Those travelers spent $220.7 million.

Barry Wallace, executive vice president of hospitality services at Outrigger Enterprises Group, said despite the increase of arrivals from the year before, the record was just marginally better.

“It was a record quarter, but the amount by which we were better than last year was really a nominal amount,” Wallace said. “A record is 10 percent or 20 percent; 3 percent (year-to-date spending) is just about breaking even.”

Contributing to the unimpressive increase are the lower numbers of Canadian tourists, Wallace said.

There was a 13.8 percent decrease in arrivals from Canada. HTA said Canada’s economic slowdown continues to drag down travel bookings to the isles as March was the third consecutive month of declines in arrivals and expenditures.

The Canadians who came to Hawaii spent significantly less in the isles, with total spending falling 18.6 percent to $132.3 million. Year-to-date arrivals from Canada are down 12.2, and spending declined 19.3 percent to $407 million.

“The devaluation of the (Canadian) dollar impacted their travel demands,” Szigeti said. “It has been ongoing for several months.”

Szigeti said that, similar to Canada, Japan’s economic situation has caused a decrease in tourism.

March arrivals from Japan, Hawaii’s largest international market, decreased 0.7 percent to 126,943 visitors. The number of visitors from Japan vacationing in Hawaii so far this year is up 2 percent to 361,523.

Visitors from Japan spent $156.7 million, a 5.6 percent decline from the year prior. Year-to-date spending declined 5.1 percent $477 million.

There also is a shift occurring in that country where 22.4 percent more of Japan travelers to Hawaii in March made their own travel arrangements, continuing a trend that has seen 11 months of double-digit increases. Japanese visitors who purchased packaged trips declined 9 percent while those who came on group tours fell 7.9 percent.

The number of lovebirds looking to vacation on the isles fell in March as visitors coming to honeymoon or get married dropped 14.6 percent from last year.

“Last year we had unusually high numbers from the honeymooners of March,” Szigeti said. “I think you are going to see that come back around.”

Cruise visitors also fell 53.2 percent to 6,874 visitors, and their spending dropped 31 percent to $2.6 million. Only five out-of-state cruise ships arrived in March compared with the eight ships that brought 14,698 visitors to Hawaii in March 2015. Visitors who arrived by airlines in March to embark on home-ported cruises fell 48.1 percent compared with the prior year. Year-to-date cruise ship arrivals have fallen 36.3 percent to 22,707, while spending decreased 12 percent to $8.6 million.

Wallace, the Outrigger Enterprises Group executive, said that as March begins the slow season, tourists might see great deals in the coming months.

“April and May in particular are a very soft season for Hawaii,” Wallace said. “We have all kinds of promotions and programs out there. What one could say to any travelers is it is a great time to get a deal in Hawaii.”