Solid increases in June visitor arrivals and spending helped keep the visitor industry’s mid-year performance ahead of 2015’s record-setting pace.

June visitor arrivals rose 4.2 percent to 800,263 visitors, while spending climbed 4.3 percent to $1.4 billion, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Visitors from Hawaii’s core U.S. West market, which increased by 5.4 percent, strongly contributed to the early-summer gains. Visitors from all international markets outside of Canada and Japan rose 12.6 percent. The growth was felt across Oahu, Kauai, Maui and Hawaii island.

Visitors from Japan, Hawaii’s oldest international market, increased .9 percent. Visitors from the U.S. East remained flat, while arrivals from Canada dropped by 4.5 percent.

Statewide average daily spending grew a scant .4 percent to $193. Higher spending by visitors from U.S. West and Canada offset lower spending by visitors from U.S. East, Japan and all other international markets.

The 2016 mid-year performance for arrivals and spending puts both categories ahead of the record pace for 2015 when about 8.65 million visitors spent an estimated $15.2 billion, according to the HTA.

Last month, growth in total air seats to the state was flat at 1,047,738. Growth from Asian nations outside of Japan, Oceania, and the U.S. West offset declines in scheduled seats from the U.S. East and Japan.

HTA President and CEO George Szigeti said Hawaii’s tourism industry achieved record totals for the first two quarters. For the first half of 2016, total visitor arrivals to the Hawaiian islands increased 3.3 percent to 4,415,801 visitors, while visitor expenditures rose 1.6 percent to $7.7 billion.

“Importantly, these results also produced a record $820.7 million in state tax revenue for the first two quarters, revenue that strengthens our state’s ability to provide programs and services benefiting residents statewide,” Szigeti said in a news release.

Through the first six months of 2016, growth in visitors from U.S. West, U.S. East, Japan and all other international markets offset fewer visitors from Canada. Through the end of June, visitor expenditures increased from U.S. West, U.S. East all other international markets, but declined from Canada and Japan.

For the four larger Hawaiian islands in the first half of 2016, Maui, Oahu, and Hawaii island saw growth in visitor arrivals, while Kauai was flat. Visitor spending through the end of June climbed on Maui and Hawaii island, but stayed flat on Kauai and dropped on Oahu.

“We are especially heartened by these results through the first half of the year, as our two largest tourism markets, U.S. West and U.S. East, carried the bulk of Hawaii’s success, bolstered by the new international markets that HTA has been working hard to develop,” Szigeti said. “Hawaii also had strong results for the month of June, infusing us with confidence that the peak summer travel season will prove to be very fruitful.”