Hawaii’s September visitor arrivals grew but spending dropped
Monthly visitor arrivals grew in September, but spending dropped again after three months of gains.
Statewide September arrivals grew to 741,304, a nearly 4% rise from September 2018, according to preliminary data released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority today. Hawaii’s core U.S. West market posted arrivals increases as did its top international market Japan. Arrivals from the mature Canada market were flat. They declined from the U.S. East and the category called all others, which includes international markets outside of Japan and Canada.
Statewide spending in September dropped nearly 4% from September 2018 to just over $1.2 billion. On average, visitors spent nearly 5% less per day and more than 7% less per trip. U.S. West spending was up, but total expenditures fell just a smidgen from the U.S. East and quite a bit more from Canada, Japan and the category called all others, which includes international markets outside of Japan and Canada.
September results were mixed across the islands. Arrivals were up but spending was down on Oahu and Molokai. Arrivals and spending were both up on Maui, Lanai and Hawaii island. Kauai experienced a significant decline in arrivals and an even sharper spending drop.
While it wasn’t a September to remember for Hawaii’s visitor industry, the results didn’t completely drag down summer’s performance, which was fairly robust given comparisons to a time last year when tourism was taking a beating. First there was fallout from the flood-related Kuhio Highway shutdown on Kauai. Then came the heightened eruption at Kilauea Volcano and Hurricane Lane.
For the first nine months of the year, arrivals grew almost 6% to nearly 7.9 million. Spending declined to $13.3 billion, but the drop was only one-tenth of a percentage point.
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Through September, the U.S. West and U.S. East posted spending gains; however, Japan, Canada and the all others market were down. Arrivals from the U.S. West, U.S. East and Japan rose during the first nine months of the year, but fell from Canada and the all others category.
Year-to-date spending was up on Oahu, Maui, and Lanai, but down on Molokai, Hawaii island and Kauai. Through September, arrivals were up on all islands except Kauai.
