The twin failures of Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines sent passenger arrivals to Hawai'i into a tailspin this month.

Since the two airlines parked their jets, the number of passengers coming to the Islands dropped 14.3 percent from the year-earlier period, according to preliminary state figures. Until April, arrivals had been running about 2 percent ahead of the same period in 2007.

"There's certainly cause for concern," said Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau CEO John Monahan.

Not only did the failures of Aloha and ATA cut available seats to Hawai'i, it also prompted other carriers to increase prices.

Aloha halted Mainland service on March 30, while ATA's last flight was April 3. That resulted in the immediate loss of 1.1 million air seats — an estimated 15 percent of the flights between Hawai'i and the Mainland.

The loss of supply pushed prices higher.

"The cost of the airfare to Hawai'i has gone way up," said Andrew Cross of the Orange County, Calif.-based travel agency More Hawai'i for Less.

Yesterday, Cross was booking a family of 12, who had originally paid $350 each for roundtrip airfare to Hawai'i on ATA. Those tickets will now cost them closer to $800 apiece, Cross said.

The family was able to get its money back from ATA because they had booked through travel partner Southwest. But they were still struggling to make up the difference of the higher-cost tickets.

"People go to Hawai'i because it's affordable," Cross said. "It's going to turn a lot of people off."

State officials — mindful of the impact on the No. 1 industry — say they'll boost marketing of Hawai'i in a multimedia campaign that is still being planned. The say they learned from the recovery after the Sept. 11 attacks that acting quickly can make a difference.

The Hawai'i Tourism Authority expects to begin special targeted marketing as early as next month.

State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said the industry could have absorbed the loss of Aloha's Mainland flights. But the departure of ATA and its ready supply of cheap seats proved to be too much. As the supply tightened, other airlines raised fares, sometimes doubling and tripling the price for tickets.

"It's going to have a short-term effect, no question, said Hawai'i Tourism Authority President and CEO Rex Johnson. "I think it's going to be real tough on us."

Johnson was in California yesterday meeting with United Airlines officials; he's in Texas today meeting with American Airlines.

He said the airlines will put flights where there's the most demand. "It isn't only a Hawai'i problem," Johnson said. "The whole airline industry is bleeding red ink."

'STICKER SHOCK' IN CALIF.

The state tourism agency's marketing committee will meet this month to recommend how best to spend money to promote the Islands, Johnson said.

The HVCB is also planning a multimedia campaign to keep Hawai'i in high demand for tourists, Monahan said. The group also is working with the Hawai'i Tourism Authority to analyze where travelers are flying from to determine "where the best places are to spend our money," Monahan said.

The campaign will likely target areas that include key California destinations that include Orange County, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

But competition could come from places that don't require a plane ride. "We need to keep the momentum going," Monahan said. "It's a little difficult to tell where we are right now."

Travel agents in California are already feeling the pinch of higher airfares on clients. "There's going to be a little sticker shock," said Cross from the Orange County travel agency.

Cross said his group of 12 is still planning to come to Hawai'i, partly because family members in the military flying from the Middle East couldn't reschedule.

But he said other travelers will reconsider and plan to drive somewhere instead of fly: "You're going to pack up the bags and go to Yosemite instead."

WIENERT: NO PANIC YET

Wienert said state economists are reviewing the forecast of arrivals to see if the previous estimates were too optimistic.

"I do not believe it is time to panic," she said. She points to new flights being added by Delta — to Lihu'e, Kaua'i, and Kona on the Big Island — and by Alaska Air to Maui, which can provide up to 300,000 more seats to help ease the loss of ATA and Aloha.

"In a very short period of time we had an announcement of new seats," Wienert said.

And Wienert looks to the lesson of the Sept. 11 aftermath — a three-month, $5 million campaign kept Hawai'i in the minds of visitors as a safe and desirable place to vacation.

She said the state had been expecting a dip in visitors for April and May, a traditionally slow time for travel after spring break.

Tom Jackson, president of World Travel, a 70-year-old travel agency based in Santa Ana, Calif., said he's seen no big cancellations of planned trips to Hawai'i but expects fallout among travelers who plan last-minute trips.

When they see a much higher airfare, some will skip the Hawai'i trip this time. "They may do a cruise, they may do Mexico, they may do Canada," Jackson said.

His company had 148 customers affected by ATA and Aloha closings but helped them all get home, he said.

At 68, Jackson knows travel and Hawai'i. He first traveled to the Islands at age 8 and counts about 120 trips since then, some just quick stops. His voice softens as he recalls that feeling of getting off a plane in Hawai'i.

"I can still smell the fragrance in the air. Automatically, I'm relaxed," he said.