U.S. visitors were slightly less satisfied with their experience in Hawai'i in 2005 than the year before, according to a state survey released yesterday.

The 2005 Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Report was conducted by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Approximately two-thirds, 67.4 percent, of U.S. visitors rated their most recent trip to Hawai'i as excellent. Since reaching a high of 72.4 percent in 2003, the rating from U.S. visitors has declined slightly.

A total of 3,412 of U.S. visitors responded to surveys mailed following visits to Hawai'i last year. The sampling error for U.S. visitors was between 2.3 and 2.4 percent.

The state also surveyed 3,562 Japanese visitors. Japanese visitors are less inclined to give a top rating; only 53 percent of the visitors said their trip was excellent. Still that number was up slightly from the past few years. In 2002 only 48.7 percent of Japanese surveyed said their trip was excellent.

The sampling error for the Japanese survey was 1.6 percent.

A limited number of printed copies will be available in late October for pick up at the DBEDT office at 250 South Hotel Street free of charge. For more information call 586-2466.

LEARN MORE

The full report is available online at http://hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitor-stats/vsat/.