September visitor arrivals down 34 percent
By Michele Kayal
Advertiser Staff Writer
The numbers are in and, yes, it was bad.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 sent Hawai'i's visitor arrivals down 34 percent for the month compared to the same month last year, and planted numbers for the year firmly into the red for each island and the state as a whole.
Hawai'i welcomed 352,000 visitors this September compared to 534,000 in September 2000. U.S. visitors were down 28 percent, while visitors from Japan fell more than 44 percent.
The numbers were not a surprise, but they confirmed Hawai'i's fears about the impact the attacks on New York and Washington had on the Islands.
During the first few days of the crisis, planes were grounded in the United States, and Hawai'i had no domestic flights for two days, and no international flights for three days, which contributed to the downturn.
The residue of fear and reluctance to travel since the assault has continued to drag tourism down worldwide. In Hawai'i, domestic passenger counts continue to run roughly 10 percent to 20 percent below last year's figures, and Japanese arrivals are more than 60 percent lower.
Associated Press
Maui County was hardest hit during September, with arrivals off 39 percent on the island of Maui, more than 41 percent on Lana'i, and 34 percent on Moloka'i. Kaua'i fared the best, with numbers 27 percent lower than last September.
Chairs sat empty at the Moana Surfrider Hotel swimming pool Sept. 19. A dearth of visitors also was reported at tourist destinations nationwide during the weeks after the terrorists struck in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Statewide, visitors for the year so far now lag more than 4 percent behind last year's numbers. Of the state's most popular islands, Maui is down the most, at more than 5 percent. The Big Island is faring the best, with visitors to date down 3.6 percent compared to the first nine months of last year.
Business travel has been hard hit by the crisis, with the meetings and conventions sector off nearly 59 percent for the month of September.
For the first nine months of the year, the meetings business is down 23 percent compared to the same period last year.
