Hawaii’s visitor industry is expecting to set records again in 2017.

However, marketers will have to work for it since arrivals growth is anticipated to slow to its lowest level since the Great Recession.

Visitor arrivals are forecast to reach 9 million and spending $16.2 million by year’s end, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The nearly 2 percent arrivals gain is the lowest since 2009. While spending growth is expected to drop just over a percentage point from 2016’s rate, if achieved, it will maintain the trend of annual increases since 2009.

Hawaii’s visitor industry may be coming up on its sixth year of record arrivals and spending, but lackluster growth rates mean there’s no room for error and that it’s going to take aggressive marketing to bring it home. Hawaii Tourism Authority’s marketing contractors, who shared their marketing rollouts with a packed house March 30 at the Hawai‘i Convention Center, say the 2017 outlook is strong, but there are challenges in nearly every market. Each source market has separate strategies, but nearly every marketing plan promotes growth by increasing overall visitor spending and bringing first-time visitors to Hawaii.

“All indications point to the positive momentum of tourism’s success continuing into this year,” HTA President and CEO George Szigeti said in a statement. “From a marketing perspective, we are continuing to be both aggressive and innovative, especially in reaching the younger generation of travelers known as millennials, the nation’s largest population segment.”

Plans from the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau to grow Hawaii’s core U.S. market are both homespun and high-tech. HVCB plans to drive U.S. East traffic by appealing to potential visitors’ stomachs through marketing blitzes that showcase local chefs and the ohana spirit. The contractor will continue its #LetHawaiiHappen campaign, which pairs island-brand ambassadors with “social media influencers.”

“One thing that really connects is the people of Hawaii,” said Jay Talwar, HVCB chief marketing officer.

A sales blitz is planned for Aug. 21-25 for New York, Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas. Earlier this year a similar New York blitz used cellphone heat maps to identify its core audience and then advertised using digital boards, cinema graphs and video. A millennial summit will be held in conjunction with the September HTA conference.

A new marketing campaign called Gohoubi Hawaii focuses on creating reasons for would-be travelers from Japan to reward themselves by visiting Hawaii now. A related campaign called Yukyu Hawaii urges Japanese workers, who are known for not using their paid leave, to restore work energy by vacationing in Hawaii.

“Last year we were the first destination to jump on this initiative and promote with the government of Japan,” said Chika Miyauchi, HTA tourism brand manager for Japan.

Marketing for the mature Canadian market will focus on travelers ages 35 to 64 who are well educated, affluent and likely have children at home. Canadian marketers also will look to the niche romance, LGBT, cruising, sports and wellness tourism markets.

Oceania, which includes Australia and New Zealand, will concentrate on luxury and romance, promoting Hawaii as the home of signature sporting events like the Ironman, and appealing to LGBT visitors.

“Hawaii is now the No. 2 most searched holiday destination across Australia,” said Kerri Anderson, Hawaii Tourism Oceania country manager. “Hawaii has a really strong brand in Australia … but the challenge is that because it’s so well known, it’s not shiny and new.”

In Europe, multifaceted marketing will focus on the dual-income, no-kids crowd and the gray market in the United Kingdom and Germany. Hawaii Tourism Korea will offer a surfing promotion with Jin Air. They will work to bring more K-pop music and boy-band concerts to Hawaii.

The China and Hong Kong markets are small in size but large on creativity. Celebrity Wang Xiao will promote Hawaii as a sports and luxury destination. A digital gaming campaign geared to millennials features Hawaii as the “award destination” for 2017 Shape Girl, which encourages travelers to get their abdominal muscles “Hawaii ready.” Hong Kong used an 85-year-old woman in an adventure campaign to make it memorable for social media users. Taiwan is appealing to the LGBT market with a “Capture the Color of Love” campaign.