By Glenn Scott
Advertiser Staff Writer
While rising numbers of Mainland visitors were helping Hawai‘i set tourism records last year, visits from most other parts of the world were declining.
Visits by travelers from Europe, Australia and New Zealand during the first three quarters of 2000 were down sharply from the same period a year earlier, according to a study based on records of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. The state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism compiled the study and issued it yesterday, offering the best glimpse yet of tourism trends from what officials call Hawai‘i’s developing international markets.
In line with state marketing efforts, the report focused on four areas that add up to 6.3 percent of the Islands’ total tourism market: Europe, Oceania (primarily Australia and New Zealand), Latin America and East Asia, excluding Japan, which is measured separately.
The region that yielded a notable increase in visitor arrivals last year was East Asia, where travel picked up as anxieties eased as the Asian financial crisis eased. Though visitor counts are improving, they have not returned to pre-crisis levels, said state chief economist Pearl Imada Iboshi.
Arrivals from South Korea were up by 54 percent; China, 38 percent; and Hong Kong, 13 percent, according to the report. But because those visitors stayed for shorter periods than in 1999, the key measure of total visitor days actually dropped by 6.8 percent.
However, researchers said the so-called "other Asia" market offered some promising trends: 70 percent of the arrivals were first-time visitors and 54 percent came on tours. A full 90 percent visited O‘ahu, while 21 percent stopped on Maui and 18 percent on the Big Island.
Of the four markets, Europe provided the most visitors during the nine-month period last year. But its 125,247 arrivals meant an 8 percent decrease from 1999. Visitor days were down 8.8 percent, and the average length of stay decreased slightly to 11.5 days.
Arrivals from Britain were down 0.5 percent from 1999, and visitor days dropped 3.9 percent. Arrivals from Germany were down 20 percent, with visitor days dropping by 17 percent.
Australia’s 56,000 arrivals during the nine-month period last year meant a drop of 3.5 percent, with visitor days down 20.7 percent. From New Zealand, the 18,050 arrivals were off by 29.6 percent. Visitor days plummeted by 42 percent.
Imada Iboshi said two reasons for the declines were currencies weakening against the dollar and the lack of discount rates available at Island hotels as demand from Mainland tourists drove up occupancy rates and room charges.
"These are very fluctuating markets in any case," she said, "so you would expect the numbers to be quite volatile."
The Latin American market, by far the smallest of the four, showed the least change, with its 13,760 arrivals down 1.2 percent but visitor days up 2 percent. Average length of stay was almost 10 days.
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