Increased visitor spending and arrivals help Hawaii tourism economy

HONOLULU—Hawaii’s tourism economy is trending forward following consecutive months of increased visitor spending and arrivals, Hawaii Tourism Authority said.

“This is a positive indication that we are on track with our HTA Strategic Plan and that our industry is showing signs of rebounding, HTA said in a statement. “Hawaii’s peak summer travel season has gotten off to a strong start with preliminary data showing a 13.2 percent increase in air passenger arrivals for the first three weeks of June. However, we are not out of the woods yet.”

According to research by the U.S. Travel Association, summer travel intentions among U.S. air leisure travelers have eased slightly due to the rising cost of travel compared with the discounts and deals that were more prevalent in summer 2009.

Hawaii hotels have said they anticipate higher numbers of visitors this summer.

HTA also sited growth in international travel to Hawaii and said the Japan market is making strong gains over last year with arrivals and average daily spending continuing to increase in May.