HONOLULU — State officials report the number of tourists coming to Hawai'i fell by 1 percent in March, compared with March 2007.

Despite the drop, the islands welcomed 1.8 million visitors over the first three months of the year, a 2.8 percent increase over the same quarter last year.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from Canada climbed 16.3 percent last month and U.S. West arrivals rose 1.9 percent. But air arrivals from the U.S. East fell 8.2 percent and arrivals from Japan dropped 11.9 percent.

All islands, except Lana'i, saw fewer visitors in March compared with March of last year. O'ahu's count was down 0.9 percent, Kaua'i's 11.6 percent, Maui's 2.9 percent, Moloka'i's 7.7 percent and Big Island's 11.9 percent. The Pineapple Island's count rose 1.9 percent.