Posted on: Tuesday, March 8, 2005
BUSINESS BRIEFS
Visiting runners spent $90.7M
Advertiser Staff
The 2004 Honolulu Marathon and Race Day Walk generated about $90.7 million in visitor spending, up $4 million from the previous events, according to a study conducted by the Hawai'i Pacific University's Travel Industry Management program.
The study, based on a survey of 1,200 visitor participants, also found those who came here for the events contributed $7.2 million in state taxes. There were 25,237 out-of-state participants in the December 2004 events.
About 37 percent of Japanese respondents and 45 percent of Mainland and other visitor participants said it was their first trip to Hawai'i. More than 31 percent of those surveyed said they brought five or more friends or family members with them.
Suntory Ltd., Mitsui & Co., and Nippon Shinpan Co. this month are expected to finalize the sale of Princeville Resorts in Hawaii for about $161.6 million to Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds and a local investor.
The closing date, originally scheduled for January, was postponed until this month. Suntory would received about $80.8 million in the transaction, Nikkei reported. Suntory, Japan's fourth-largest brewer, plans to sell some businesses and spend about $1.9 billion over the next three years to buy other beverage and alcohol companies.
Hawai'i honey production in 2004 was estimated at 768,000 pounds, a 4 percent drop from the year before, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
Wet weather conditions limited food sources for bees, affecting honey output, the department said.
Producers received an average of $1.41 per pound in 2004, down 4 cents per pound from the 2003 record average. The number of honey-producing colonies totaled 8,000, up 1,000 from the previous year. Honey yield per colony averaged 96 pounds, down 18 pounds from 2003.
Sale of resort nearly complete
Wet weather hurts honey
