Hawai'i visitor arrivals up 17 percent in May

By Alan Yonan Jr.
Advertiser Staff Writer

A record inflow of Mainland visitors and a sharp jump in arrivals from Japan helped Hawai'i tourism arrivals post a double-digit increase in May for the third straight month.

The figures released yesterday indicate that the recovery in the state's No. 1 industry is on track after it was was hit a year ago by concerns over SARS and the Iraq war, industry representatives said.

Overall arrivals rose 17 percent in May from a year earlier, following increases of 14.4 percent in April and 11.2 percent in March, according to the report from the State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Domestic arrivals increased 8.9 percent to 392,335 from a year earlier, the best May on record. Arrivals from Japan, which comprise 70 percent of all international arrivals, soared 54.3 percent from a year ago.

"Finally the fear of SARS and the fear of terrorism are subsiding. Japan's economy is doing well and people there feel confident about spending money again," said Gilbert Kimura, director of passenger sales for Japan Airlines in Honolulu.

The jump in arrivals is welcome news for the hotel industry.

"We're well on the road to recovery," said Stan Brown, Marriott International's vice president for Pacific Islands and Japan. "We've seen broad increases on all islands across all our brands.

"The hotel industry has really taken beating over past two years. But we have a ways to go before hotels are back to full health. We'll need to see this growth continue into 2005 and beyond," Brown said.

The improving performance of the tourism industry is also helping to fuel Hawai'i job growth. In a separate report issued Monday, the state said its unemployment rate fell to 3 percent in May, the lowest in the country.

Jobs in the leisure and hospitality category rose to 101,600 in May, a 2.7 percent increase from a year ago. Jobs in the accommodation and food services sector rose by 2.8 percent.

Qualified job applicants are becoming increasingly difficult to find, Brown said.

"We've added many associates on multiple islands. In some areas it's much tougher to recruit than in the past," he said.

For the first five months of 2004, the state logged 2.73 million visitor arrivals, a 9 percent jump from a year earlier.

"We are extremely pleased to see the impressive growth from the domestic market and the continued improvement in arrivals from Japan," said Marsha Wienart, state tourism liaison.

The number of visitors who came to Hawai'i for Japan's Golden Week holidays more than doubled to 51,312 this May from a year ago, she said.

Wienart also noted that Hawai'i was ranked again as the best honeymoon destination in the world according to a survey of 3,000 travel agents in Modern Bride Magazine.

More than 159,000 visitors spent their honeymoons in the Islands during the first five months of 2004, up 5.8 percent from the same period a year ago.

Reach Alan Yonan at ayonan@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2448