Big summer for tourism is boosted by strong August

Hawaii tourism experienced its best summer ever thanks to a strong August performance.

Visitor arrivals to Hawaii in August rose 3.1 percent to 780,723 visitors, according to monthly statistics released Friday by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. It was the 19th consecutive month of year-over-year growth in arrivals, dating back to February 2015.

August air arrivals from Hawaii’s core U.S. West market rose 4.8 percent to 329,951, arrivals from the U.S. East were up 2.8 percent to 149,705 and the category called “all other international markets,” which comprises the international markets outside Japan and Canada, rose 2.5 percent to 118,864. Arrivals by air from Japan fell 0.4 percent to 152,438 and arrivals from Canada fell 0.4 percent to 27,881.

In August, one out-of-state cruise ship came to Hawaii bringing 1,883 visitors. No cruise ships came to Hawaii in August 2015.

Although monthly visitor spending has fluctuated more than arrivals, August marked the third straight month of visitor spending increases, with a 5.2 percent rise to $1.3 billion. Visitor spending from the U.S. West grew 7.1 percent to $482.8 million, and from the U.S. East rose 6.6 percent to $294 million. Visitor spending from Japan grew 2 percent to $211.5 million and rose 3.9 percent to $274.9 million from the all other international markets category. Spending by visitors from Canada remained flat at $48 million. In August, daily visitor spending rose 2.9 percent to $192 million.

From June through August, Hawaii welcomed 2.4 million visitors who generated $4.16 billion in spending for businesses and communities statewide, and produced $442.7 million in state tax revenue, according to HTA President and CEO George Szigeti.

“This could be the high-water mark of any year that I’ve been here,” said Jerry Gibson, area vice president of Hilton Hawaii.

Year-to-date through August, visitor arrivals rose 2.6 percent to 6.03 million and spending increased 3 percent to $10.4 billion. Gibson said he expects to see the year-to-date trend continue.

“I think the next few months of October will be good because of convention business as well as the two weeks of November right after Thanksgiving. That period of time is usually soft, but it’s filling up nicely with events,” he said.

Gibson said the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Honolulu Marathon in December will make for a strong finish.

Szigeti said currency improvements have helped bolster Hawaii’s visitor industry. The perception that Hawaii is a safe, clean destination also has been a strong selling point, he said.

”We’re looking good for this quarter and we think the start of 2017 will look good, too,” Szigeti said.