Total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawaii in April 2014 decreased 2.2 percent (or $24 million) from last April to $1.1 billion, according to preliminary statistics recently released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA).
For the first four months of 2014, total visitor expenditures fell 2.9 percent to $4.9 billion and total arrivals dropped 2.6 percent to 2,720,760 visitors. There has been negative growth in total visitor expenditures for the last eight months.
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“The Hawaii Tourism Authority anticipates a continued slowdown through the second quarter of 2014, a traditionally slower travel period for the state,” says Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, in a written release.
In April 2014, arrivals by air of 639,395 visitors (+0.3 percent) was comparable to the same month last year. However, fewer visitors came by cruise ships (-22.2 percent) and that led to a slight drop in total arrivals (-0.7 percent) to 662,553 visitors. The average daily spending by all visitors (-1.6 percent to $188 per person) was lower than a year ago. The dip in cruise passengers can be attributed to poor access to Hawaii’s harbors, says McCartney.
“We recently issued a request for proposals for maritime vessel scheduling software, which will help to establish an integrated system that will ease vessel scheduling to optimize the use of dock space to accommodate more cruise ships throughout the Hawaiian Islands,” he said.
Arrivals by air from U.S. West visitors fell 1.4 percent to 274,656 visitors, despite an expected gain from Easter holiday travelers. This decline was offset by higher daily spending (+4.5 percent to $160 per person), which contributed to a 2.9 percent growth in U.S. West visitor expenditures to $394.1 million. Average daily spending by U.S. East visitors was less than last April (-8 percent to $193 per person), resulting in a 6.9 percent decline in U.S. East visitor expenditures to $238.4 million.
A drop in Japanese arrivals (-1.6 percent to 98,686 visitors) was balanced by increased daily spending (+3.4 percent to $271 per person), resulting in total expenditures of $154.6 million (+0.2 percent). Canadian visitors spent a total of $89.7 million in April 2014, up 10.2 percent from the same month last year. Supported by increased air service, Canadian arrivals rose 16.3 percent to 49,548 visitors.
“Strengthening our core markets like the U.S. and Japan also remain a priority for the HTA,” said McCartney. “Seasonal direct service from the West Coast to Kona and Lihue this summer will help to boost visitor arrivals from the region, and increase distribution across the state. The HTA is also working with the Hawai‘i Tourism Japan on promoting an Oahu concert with the popular J-Pop group, Arashi, which is expected to attract 15,000 visitors from Japan in September.”
Arrivals from All Other markets totaled 87,608 visitors (-0.2 percent). Lower daily spending (-5.6 percent to $258 per person) and a shorter average length of stay led to a 10.7 percent drop in expenditures from All Other markets to $195.4 million.
There were more visitors to Kauai (+4.2 percent) and Maui (+2.7 percent), but fewer visitors to Hawaii Island (-3.8 percent) compared to April 2013. Visitor expenditures rose on Kauai (+8.5 percent) and Hawai‘i Island (+1.4 percent) but decreased on Oahu (-6.1 percent).
There were 898,448 total air seats (+0.7 percent) to Hawaii in April 2014. Scheduled seats from Other Asia (+19.3 percent), Canada (+16.8 percent) and Japan (+6.5 percent) grew, but scheduled seats from U.S. East (-8.4 percent) and Oceania (-6.3 percent) declined.
“Visitor arrivals and expenditures will continue to plateau in 2014, in comparison to the past two record-breaking years,” said McCartney. “Through the strategic and collective efforts of our industry, marketing and other stakeholder partners, we will continue to work together to balance and strengthen Hawaii's tourism economy.”
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