Updated at 11:24 a.m., Thursday, March 29, 2007
Visitor arrivals down in February, but spending up
Advertiser Staff
Fewer visitors traveled to Hawai'i in February compared to the same month a year ago, but they spent more, according to state figures released today.Overall arrivals fell 2.1 percent to 561,410 in February from a year ago. At the same time, daily spending rose to $181 per person compared to $172 per person last February.
Visitors from three of the top four visitor markets continued to decrease. Arrivals from the U.S. East fell 9.9 percent, while arrivals from Japan and Canada declined 5.3 percent.
The bright spot was arrivals from the U.S. West, which rose 6.1 percent.
After years of boom, industry officials note the change in trend.
"We expect the visitor industry to remain strong for the year, but with more moderate growth compared to the record performance of the past couple of years," said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert.
