The number of visitors to Hawai'i fell nearly 8 percent last month following the shutdowns of Aloha and ATA airlines, and tourism officials are bracing for word of another decline in May.

Hawai'i's visitor count totaled 548,792 in April, down 7.6 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to a report released yesterday by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Despite the decline in arrivals, visitor spending remained buoyant, rising 0.4 percent to $881.5 million compared with April 2007.

State tourism officials had expected an even larger decline in April visitor arrivals given the loss of a significant number of flights. "Quite honestly, it was a pleasant surprise," said tourism liaison Marsha Wienert.

Wienert said state statisticians had forecast a slow March and April as early as last year. And after Aloha and ATA went out of business in late March and early April, the number of air seats between the West Coast and Hawai'i shrank 15 percent within a week.

In response, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority boosted by $3 million the budget available to try to convince North American travelers that Hawai'i still offers a good value for a vacation.

The state tourism agency authorized the additional spending as a way to help Hawai'i's No. 1 industry recover from the airlines' decline as well as a spike in airfares, pushed up by skyrocketing jet fuel prices.

Hotel operators say summer bookings have been down but are "not that bad," Wienert said. And that's why that additional money could prove crucial in helping offset continued declines for the summer months.

Wienert said the state had anticipated a sharp decline from the western United States and that proved true. In California alone, the number of visitors to Hawai'i fell 25 percent in April compared to a year earlier.

It's a region that's struggling with economic issues as well. "Everything that affects that was out of our control," Wienert said.

Looking at May, she expects another decrease in arrivals but declined to predict a specific number.

"We know May is going to have as many challenges as we had in April," she said.

She said it's too early to change the overall visitor forecast for the year, which predicts a 3 percent decrease for the year.

Wienert said some other carriers are helping fill the void. A number of airlines have added flights, including Hawaiian Airlines, which started service out of Oakland on May 1.

One of the bright spots in yesterday's report was news that the number of visitors from Canada increased 48 percent in April. While a growing market, the 30,505 Canadians still accounted for just 5.6 percent of April's visitors. Those visitors are getting more bang for their buck since the Canadian dollar strengthened 10 percent against the U.S. dollar since last April.

Overall, those visitors who did come to Hawai'i stayed a tiny bit longer: The average length of stay was 8.85 days, compared with 8.63 days in April 2007. Total visitor days for air and cruise visitors in April 2008 declined 5.3 percent compared with April 2007.

Arrivals from the U.S. West decreased 15.2 percent. Air arrivals from the U.S. East dropped 5.1 percent. Japan declined 15.3 percent from the same month last year, which tracked a recent downward trend largely attributed to fuel surcharges discouraging long trips.

Those who came spent a little more. Spending by visitors arriving by air rose to $881.5 million, a 0.4 percent increase over April 2007. Average daily spending rose to $186 per person this April compared with $175 per person in April last year.