Tourism suffers setback
By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer
| • | Visitor dropoff
Domestic arrivals dropped 1.3 percent last month and international arrivals fell 12.3 percent. Domestic visitors March '02: 390,753 Japanese visitors March '02: 122,633 |
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The number of tourists coming to Hawai'i fell 4.7 percent last month compared with March 2002, with international arrivals falling 12.3 percent and domestic arrivals down 1.3 percent, according to figures released yesterday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
The number of Japanese visiting the state fell 16 percent in March because of the war with Iraq.
"We would expect that international visitor arrivals will continue to be slow over the next few months but we believe that the visitor arrivals from the U.S. Mainland will remain steady," said department Director Ted Liu.
The decline in total visitor arrivals is not as severe as the 5.7 percent decline in the month that the Gulf War began in 1991 and the 32.5 percent drop after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
About 385,803 domestic visitors came to Hawai'i last month, down from 390,753 in March 2002. U.S. East visitor arrivals were up 2.7 percent, while U.S. West figures were down 5.1 percent.
The number of Japanese visitors fell to 103,009, down from 122,633 last year.
"The Japanese are still a pretty grim picture," said David Carey, chief executive of Outrigger Enterprises Inc.
The declines are troubling for the tourism industry because the figures are lower than the period last year when travel was still languishing from the effects of Sept. 11.
What provided a slight boost to tourism during the month was that the visitors who did come stayed longer, which is typical of periods of economic uncertainty because people tend to take fewer vacations that last longer.
Visitors' average length of stay increased 6.4 percent to 9.37 days, which helped push the total number of days all visitors spent in Hawai'i up 1.4 percent. Visitor days is considered a good indication of how much tourism contributes to the economy through visitor spending.
According to the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau, the tourism data show that the state's visitor industry was "in relatively good shape compared with travel trends nationwide."
"It also indicates that Hawai'i's tourism recovery will continue to rebound more rapidly and effectively in the coming months than many other destinations in the post-war period," said Tony Vericella, president of the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau.
Figures from Hospitality Advisors LLC show Hawai'i hotel occupancy was up 3.7 percent for the week ended April 19 compared with the same period a year ago. For the United States as a whole, hotel occupancy was down 12.3 percent. Los Angeles was down 10.8 percent, San Diego fell 5.3 percent and Orlando was up 6.2 percent.
Among the islands, O'ahu had the largest decline in visitors, with an 11.3 percent drop from last March, including an 8.5 percent decline in domestic arrivals and a 15.4 percent decline in international arrivals.
The Big Island had a decline of 4.3 percent. Meanwhile, visitor arrivals were up in Maui (1.7 percent), Kaua'i (1.5 percent), Moloka'i (5.3 percent) and Lana'i (29.1 percent).
"I was a little surprised that O'ahu was down," even for domestic visitors, Carey said.
While fewer people came on flights to Hawai'i, the number of cruise ship visitors increased 28.9 percent to 24,879 passengers. Those visitors spent an average of 4.4 days on board and 2.72 days in the Islands.
Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470 or kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.
