Nearly 5 million tourists visited Hawaii in first half of 2018
STAR-ADVERTISER / 2012
George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, said today that “Hawaii’s tourism industry did extremely well in the first half of 2018 in all key categories.”
Despite a June downturn on Hawaii island where the Kilauea volcano eruption has dampened tourism, the state’s visitor industry posted strong mid-year gains.
Total visitor arrivals statewide grew just over 7 percent to 897,099 visitors in June, according to a preliminary report released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority today. Total spending during the same period rose to $1.6 billion, up more than 10 percent from June 2017. On any given day last month, there were 272,020 visitors in the islands, up nearly 9 percent compared with June 2017.
June arrivals and total spending rose from Hawaii’s largest visitor market the U.S. West, its second largest market the U.S. East, and its top international market Japan. However, June arrivals and spending from Canada, a mature international market for Hawaii, dropped.
Oahu, Maui and Kauai experienced solid June gains in visitor spending and arrivals; however, spending dipped on Hawaii island, where arrivals fell almost 5 percent.
HTA president and chief executive George D. Szigeti said in a statement,”Hawaii’s peak summer travel season began with a strong month of June. All of the islands recorded double-digit increases in visitor spending, except for the island of Hawaii, which was down by less than 1 percent. The ongoing eruption of Kilauea volcano clearly made an impact on travel to the island, particularly with a nearly 20 percent drop in day trips during June.”
Still, the June results helped usher in robust mid-year report for Hawaii tourism, which was buoyed by a more than 10 percent increase in air seats from the same period in 2017.
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Total arrivals to the state during the first six months of the year rose more than 8 percent to just shy of 5 million and spending increased almost 11 percent to $9.3 billion. The spending gains lead to a gain of $105 million in state tax revenue compared to the first half of 2017.
“Hawaii’s tourism industry did extremely well in the first half of 2018 in all key categories,” Szigeti said. “We ask for everyone’s continued support as the tourism industry strives to maintain this strong momentum in the second half of the year.”
