Hawaii Tourism Authority: Visitor arrivals climb

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii recorded its seventh consecutive increase in visitors in June, welcoming 625,522 last month, a 13.6 percent jump over June 2009, the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported Wednesday.

The June increase, coupled with higher average daily visitor spending, led to a 16.1 percent jump in total expenditures last month to $131.7 million.

For the first half of 2010, total expenditures climbed to $5.3 billion, a 7.8 percent increase compared with the first half of 2009.

"With an overall increase in arrivals for the seventh consecutive month and visitor expenditures up 7.8 percent over last year, we are pleased that our efforts to drive demand and boost arrivals in the short-term have been successful, including the industry working together to create a quality experience for our visitors," authority President and CEO Mike McCartney said.

"Our focused efforts to increase travel demand to Hawaii in our major market areas are paying off with increases in arrivals from U.S. West, U.S. East, Canada, and Japan," he aid. "While Japan arrivals are down from 2008, they continue to head upward following last year's H1N1 epidemic, which severely reduced arrivals and expenditures from this market."

All islands experienced heavier visitor traffic in June, with arrivals on Oahu increasing 18.3 percent, followed by the Big Island (8.9 percent), Maui (5.9 percent) and Kauai (5.8 percent).

"We are expecting Hawaii's summer season to continue to outpace last year, thanks to the successful marketing campaign plans that have been implemented with our travel partners," Hawaii tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said.

"Although we still have a ways to go to make up for what has been lost during these challenging economic times, our visitor industry is on the right path and there is reason for increased confidence in Hawaii's economic recovery," she said.