Hawai'i's tourism industry saw no growth in visitor arrivals last month as continued increases in Mainland arrivals were offset by a double-digit drop in Japanese visitors.

Hawai'i welcomed 573,412 visitors last month, virtually unchanged from February 2005 and the first time since last April that visitor arrivals did not grow. Except for a 3.2 percent decline last April, monthly visitor arrivals have been growing year-over-year since October 2003.

On the positive side, tourists spent more, with total visitor expenditures growing 5.7 percent year-over-year to $924.1 million, according to data released yesterday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Average daily spending rose from $165 to $172 per person, and spending per trip grew 5.7 percent to $1,611.70. Total visitor days grew 1.4 percent.

"We are encouraged to see a positive trend in both visitor days and spending," said state Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert.

There's always a concern with a decrease in any market segment, Wienert said. But she added that the state's goal is to make the visitor industry grow by increasing spending. The goal "has never been to have more and more visitors," she said.

Japanese visitor arrivals fell 12.6 percent last month to 107,076, the second consecutive month of decline. Tourism experts have blamed the drop in Japanese visitors partly on fewer and more expensive Hawai'i hotel rooms and a cutback in scheduled daily flights from Japan.

The number of Mainland visitors last month grew 2.9 percent to set a February record.

All islands saw more visitors last month except for O'ahu, which had a 2.7 percent drop in tourists. Lana'i had the highest percentage growth for visitor arrivals with 22.2 percent, followed by Moloka'i (20.2 percent), the Big Island (11.2 percent), Kaua'i (8.5 percent) and Maui (2.3 percent).

Of the 573,412 visitors last month, 67,061 flew here to board Hawai'i-based cruise ships or arrived on cruise ships visiting the islands, up 57.3 percent.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.