The Hawaii tourism industry started the back half of the year on a blistering pace in July as visitor arrivals climbed nearly 7 percent and spending grew by nearly 10 percent.

Hawaii welcomed 891,878 visitors, who spent nearly $1.6 billion across the islands in July, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. On average, those visitors spent $196 per day and nearly $1,779 per trip in the islands — that’s up about 3 percent from the year-ago July. Their average length of stay was just over nine days.

“July is typically the peak month of the year for Hawaii tourism and one that industry partners count on to generate good results. Even so, the 9.8 (percent) increase in visitor spending and 6.8 percent increase in visitor arrivals in July completely exceeds any forecasts that were made for the month. That sentiment is also true for the first seven months of the year,” HTA president and CEO George Szigeti said in a statement.

All major markets experienced growth in visitor arrivals. Every major market except for Canada grew monthly spending. The U.S. market led the monthly gains, showing strength from Hawaii’s top core market, the U.S. West, and even more robust growth from Hawaii’s second-largest market, the U.S. East.

Monthly arrivals grew on Oahu, Maui, Lanai, Kauai and Hawaii island, although they dropped on Molokai. Monthly spending grew on Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii island, but dropped on Molokai, Lanai and Kauai.

Total air seats to Hawaii in July increased just over 3 percent to just over 1 million.

The robust monthly growth contributed to strong year-to-date results. Through the first seven months of the year, visitor arrivals grew nearly 5 percent to nearly 5.5 million visitors. Visitor spending through July rose nearly 9 percent to nearly $10 billion.