Categorized | Business

Visitor expenditures up 15.6% in September

MEDIA RELEASE

Total expenditures by visitors who came to Hawaii in September 2012 rose 15.6 percent (or +$146.5 million) compared to the previous year to $1.1 billion, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Contributing to this increase was higher daily spending and a 6.1 percent growth in total arrivals (to 595,019 visitors).

Among Hawaii’s top visitor markets, arrivals by air from U.S. West increased 3.1 percent from September 2011 to 232,076 visitors, the 11th consecutive month of growth.

Total U.S. West visitor expenditures rose 13.2 percent to $344.3 million. After 12 months of increases, U.S. East arrivals fell 1.9 percent to 109,922 visitors in September 2012. Despite this decline, higher daily spending boosted U.S. East total visitor expenditures (+6.7%) to $232.8 million.

Japanese arrivals grew 9 percent to 133,958 visitors in September 2012. A small drop in daily spending (-2% to $299 per person) was offset by a longer length of stay (6.33 days from 6.03 days). The net result was a 12.2 percent increase in total visitor spending to $253.5 million.

Canadian arrivals totaled 19,239 visitors, down 2.2 percent compared to September 2011, while total visitor expenditures were similar to last September at $36.5 million. There was strong growth in arrivals (+19.7% at 88,168 visitors) and total spending (+40.4% to $214.8 million) by visitors from All Other developing markets. Visitor arrivals by cruise ships climbed 52.5 percent (to 11,656 visitors) from September 2011.

Year-to-date 2012:

For the first nine months of 2012, total visitor expenditures grew 19.5 percent to $10.7 billion, with increases from U.S. West (+10.6% to $3.4 billion), U.S. East (+10.5% to $2.6 billion), Japan (+21.7% to $1.9 billion), Canada (+10.2% to $718.7 million) and All Other (+60% to $2 billion).

Total arrivals rose 9.6 percent to 5,973,282 visitors, with strong growth from Japan (+15.9%) and All Other (+27.1%). Total visitor expenditures on each of the four major Hawaiian Islands increased by double-digits compared to year-to-date 2011.

Arrivals from All Other developing markets grew 24.3 percent in the third quarter of 2012 with aggressive growth from Other Asia MMA (+45.4%) and Oceania MMA (+32.4%). For the first three quarters of 2012, a total of 757,263 visitors arrived from developing markets, an increase of 27.1 percent from the same period last year.

Additional Highlights:

After 12 months of consecutive growth, total honeymoon visitors fell 2.1 percent (to 58,477) in September 2012, as a result of decreases from Japan (-9.5% to 19,172), U.S. East (-12.2% to 11,454) and U.S. West (-3% to 13,154). For the first nine months of 2012, total honeymooners rose 12.2 percent, compared to a year ago, to 410,672 visitors.

Fewer visitors also came to get married (-21.7% to 9,858) compared to September 2011, due to losses from Japan (-31.2% to 4,093), U.S. West (-17.4% to 2,961) and U.S. East (-30.4% to 1,309). Year-to-date, the total number of visitors who came to get married grew 1.6 percent from the same period last year (to 90,144).

There were fewer visitors who came for Meetings, Conventions and Incentives (MCI) in September 2012 (-21.4% to 18,278). However, year to date, total MCI visitors increased 1.5 percent from the first nine months of 2011 (to 317,012).

Total stays in timeshare properties rose 10.9 percent in September 2012, with strong growth from U.S. East (+14.7%) and Japan (+40.6%), and a 5.1 percent increase from U.S. West. Year-to- date stays in timeshares for 2012 grew 7.3 percent to 579,398 visitors.

Since November 2011, there has been year-over-year growth in the number of visitors who made their own travel arrangements (FIT) to Hawaii.

In September 2012, total FIT visitors rose 10.2 percent from last September to 354,348. Japanese FIT visitors climbed 26.8 percent to 39,151, the sixth consecutive month of growth for this market.

FIT travelers from U.S. West, rose 7.1 percent in September 2012 (to 181,204), the 11th successive month of increases. For year-to- date 2012, the number of FIT visitors grew 9.8 percent to 3,744,905.

Contributing to higher U.S. West arrivals in September 2012 were increases from the Pacific (+3.2%) and Mountain regions (+1.3%). More visitors from California (+8.7%) compensated for fewer visitors from Alaska (-37.6%), Washington (-7.8%) and Oregon (-10.7%).

Growth from the Mountain region was led by increases from Nevada (+15.9%) and Arizona (+5.6%), which offset lower arrivals from Utah (-13.2%) and Colorado (-3.7%).

Year-to-date, arrivals for the Pacific region rose 6.1 percent while the Mountain region grew 2.3 percent.

The decline in U.S. East arrivals in September 2012 were caused by decreases from the East South Central (-15.5%), West North Central (-7.4%), East North Central (-6.4%) and New England (-4.9%) regions, which offset a 9.4 percent growth from the Middle Atlantic region.

For the first nine months of 2012, arrivals from the West North Central and East North Central were comparable to a year ago while arrivals from all other U.S. East regions increased.

Island Highlights:

Oahu: For the sixth consecutive month, Oahu had the fastest growth rate in arrivals among the larger Hawaiian Islands. Arrivals to Oahu grew 7.3 percent to 384,801 visitors in September 2012, with increases from Japan (+9.3% to 128,239) and U.S. West (+3.1% to 104,169) making up for declines from U.S. East (-1.2% to 66,516) and Canada (-9.9% to 10,016).

Higher average daily spending (+4.6% to $221 per person) also contributed to an 11.7 percent growth in Oahu’s total visitor expenditures to $586.8 million.

For the first nine months of 2012, arrivals to O‘ahu grew 11.6 percent and total visitor expenditures increased 19.5 percent to $5.5 billion. Of the 3,666,230 visitors who went to O‘ahu during this period, 74.1 percent stayed exclusively on O‘ahu while the remainder visited other islands.

Kauai: Arrivals to Kauai rose 2.7 percent to 83,580 visitors in September 2012. Growth from U.S. West (+4.1% to 44,710), U.S. East (+1.3% to 24,992) and Canada (+22.3% to 3,063) compensated for fewer visitors from Japan (-8.5% to 2,191).

Higher average daily spending (+33.3% to $198 per person) contributed to a 41.8 percent increase in total visitor expenditures to $118.7 million in September 2012.

For the first nine months of 2012, arrivals to Kauai grew 7.2 percent to 821,314 visitors, while total visitor expenditures rose 23 percent to $1.1 billion. Of those who visited Kauai, 53.7 percent spent their entire trip on the island.

Maui: In September 2012, increased daily spending (+9.8% to $203 per person) and arrivals (+2.4% to 161,721 visitors) elevated Maui’s total visitor expenditures (+13.3%) to $241.2 million.

Growth in arrivals from U.S. West (+1.7% to 81,249) and Japan (+13.1% to 6,860) offset lower arrivals from U.S. East (-1.7% to 40,736) and Canada (-4.2% to 9,115).

Total visitor expenditures rose 19.8 percent, compared to year-to-date 2011, to $2.7 billion. Of the 1,730,468 visitors to Maui (+5.6%) through September 2012, 61.9 percent stayed there exclusively.

Hawaii Island: After nine consecutive month of growth, arrivals to Hawaii Island declined 3.2 percent to 95,795 visitors in September 2012.

Losses in arrivals from U.S. West (-2.2% to 36,352) and U.S. East (-6.1% to 23,093) negated an 8.7 percent growth from Japan (to 18,728 visitors).

Despite this decrease, higher daily spending (+13.1% to $181 per person) and a longer average length of stay (+7% to 7.30 days) boosted total visitor expenditures on Hawaii Island (+17.1%) to $126.5 million.

For the first nine months of 2012, total arrivals to Hawaii Island rose 7.3 percent to 1,072,099 visitors, of which 46.5 percent stayed there exclusively. Total visitor expenditures grew 16.7 percent to $1.3 billion.

Air Seats to Hawaii:

Total air seats for September 2012 increased 10.4 percent compared to the same month last year to 809,602 seats. Total air seats rose for Honolulu (+12.3% to 596,953), Kahului (+2.2% to 121,355), Kona (+13.6% to 42,969) and Lihue (+12.2% to 44,829), but declined for Hilo (-34.5% to 3,496).

Total scheduled air seats grew 10.6 percent from September 2011 to 802,166. However, total charter seats declined 12.8 percent to 7,436 mainly due to fewer domestic charter flights out of Las Vegas compared to last September. The number of international charter flights rose 11.7 percent compared to September 2011.

Out of Japan, there were five charter flights operated by Korean Airlines and three by Japan Airlines in September 2012. In addition, there was one China Eastern Airlines charter from Shanghai and one by Qantas Airlines from Auckland.

Scheduled air seats from U.S. West in September 2012 grew 6.7 percent. Increased service from Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, San Diego, Sacramento and Las Vegas offset discontinued service from Orange County and reduced service from San Francisco, Portland, Anchorage and Bellingham.

Seats from U.S. East climbed 22.8 percent compared to September 2011. Daily direct service from New York City (Middle Atlantic region) and Washington D.C. (South Atlantic region) more than offset fewer seats out of Chicago (East North Central region).

Scheduled seats out of Japan rose 10.8 percent from last September due to increased service from Osaka and Tokyo-Narita.

Oceania air seats jumped 42.7 percent from last September, boosted by additional seats from Sydney and Auckland.

Scheduled seats from Other Asia climbed 44.8 percent compared to September 2011. Increased service from Korean Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Asiana Airlines boosted seats from Seoul (+52.8%) and offset reduced service from Shanghai by China Eastern Airlines.

For the first nine months of 2012, total air seats grew 7.3 percent, with increased seats to Lihue (+11.8%), Honolulu (+7.3%), Kahului (+4.6%) and Kona (+5.5%).

Seats to Hilo airport more than doubled compared to the first nine months of 2011, as daily flights from Los Angeles and weekly flights from San Francisco resumed in June 2011.

There were significantly more scheduled seats from Other Asia (+47.1%), Oceania (+29.7%), Canada (+15.8%) and Japan (+12.7%) compared to the first nine months of 2011. Scheduled seats from U.S. West (+4.1%) also increased, offsetting fewer seats from U.S. East (-1.9%).

Cruise Ship Visitors

The total number of visitors who came by cruise ship or by air to board cruise ships climbed 39.7 percent to 22,466 visitors in September 2012.

Cruise visitor days increased 24.4 percent.

Six out-of-state cruise ships came with 11,656 visitors on board, compared to four ships with 7,643 visitors in September 2011. In addition, five Saturdays in September 2012 allowed for five tours of the Hawaii home-ported cruise ship compared to four tours last September.

For the first nine months of 2012, a total of 195,728 visitors came by cruise ship or by air to board cruise ships, an increase of 22.3 percent from the same period last year. Visitor days for all cruise visitors rose 13.3 percent.

In the first nine months of 2012, 102,257 visitors came aboard 55 out-of-state cruise ships. This is 42.5 percent higher compared to the 71,780 visitors that boarded the 43 cruise ships during the same period in 2011.

Visitor Arrivals by Air from All Other Markets

Arrivals by air from the smaller, developing markets grew 24.3 percent to 271,436 visitors in the third quarter of 2012 and comprised 13.4 percent of total air visitors to Hawaii.

For the first three quarters of 2012, a total of 757,263 visitors arrived from developing markets, an increase of 27.1 percent from the same period last year.

Other Asia MMA: Growth in arrivals from this market climbed by double-digits in every quarter of 2012. Arrivals in the third quarter of 2012 rose 45.4 percent to 78,389 visitors with increases from Korea (+79.8% to 45,744), China (+11.4% to 27,193), Taiwan (+25.1% to 2,640), Hong Kong (+25% to 1,488) and Singapore (+69.6% to 1,294).

For the first three quarters of 2012, arrivals from Other Asia grew 37.6 percent to 202,139 visitors and accounted for 26.7 percent of the All Other visitor markets. Arrivals from Korea jumped 44.2 percent to 110,053, while arrivals from China rose 29.8 percent to 76,364.

Oceania MMA: This market also experienced double-digit growth in arrivals in all three quarters of 2012. Arrival growth was up 32.4 percent from the third quarter of 2011, to 80,367 visitors.

Year-to-date arrivals from Oceania in 2012, climbed 30.3 percent to 199,787 visitors and comprised 26.4 percent of the All Other visitor markets. Arrivals from Australia rose 31.9 percent to 181,353, while arrivals from New Zealand increased 17.1 percent to 18,434.

Europe MMA: Total arrivals from the Europe MMA (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland) increased 9.4 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 45,597 visitors, with more visitors from the United Kingdom (+5.6% to 16,128), Germany (+16.5% to 12,785), France (+11.5 to 5,834), Italy (+1.1% to 5,672) and Switzerland (+12.8% to 5,178) compared to the third quarter of 2011.

For the first three quarters of 2012, arrivals from this MMA rose 12.2 percent to 103,029 visitors and comprised 13.6 percent of All Other visitors. Arrivals from the United Kingdom increased 8.9 percent to 39,132, while arrivals from Germany rose 13.7 percent to 29,574.

Latin America MMA: Arrivals from Latin America rose 7.6 percent in the third quarter of 2012 to 6,816 visitors.

For the first three quarters of 2012 a total of 18,712 visitors came from this market, up 13 percent compared to the same period last year.

More visitors came from Brazil (+24.5% to 9,139), and Mexico (+8 to 6,335%), but fewer came from Argentina (-3.5% to 3,238) compared to the first nine months of 2011.

Statement from Mike McCartney, president & CEO Hawaii Tourism Authority:

Double-digit increases in visitor expenditures across the four major islands and Molokai for September contributed to an increase of $1.7 billion, to $10.7 billion, in year-to-date spending over 2011.

While arrivals increased at a slower rate than recent months, we were extremely pleased that the pace of expenditure growth has not weakened.

As we head into the fourth quarter, we anticipate the momentum to continue with increases in airlift thanks to new routes by Hawaiian Airlines from Sapporo and Brisbane, Allegiant Airlines from the West Coast, and Jetstar from Melbourne.

These new routes are all servicing secondary cities, which will provide greater ease of access for visitors to come to the Hawaiian Islands.

Festivals and events, including the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, will also help to draw visitors this quarter.

After nine consecutive month of growth, arrivals to Hawaii Island declined 3.2 percent to 95,795 visitors in September 2012. Losses in arrivals from U.S. West (-2.2% to 36,352) and U.S. East (-6.1% to 23,093) negated an 8.7 percent growth from Japan (to 18,728 visitors).

Despite this decrease, higher daily spending (+13.1% to $181 per person) and a longer average length of stay (+7% to 7.30 days) boosted total visitor expenditures on Hawaii Island (+17.1%) to $126.5 million.

For the first nine months of 2012, total arrivals to Hawaii Island rose 7.3 percent to 1,072,099 visitors, of which 46.5 percent stayed there exclusively. Total visitor expenditures grew 16.7 percent to $1.3 billion.

We are encouraged by the growth we have seen in expenditures and arrivals for the year so far, and remain committed to working with the industry and our global marketing partners to achieve our overall targets of $13.9 billion in expenditures and 7.9 million visitor arrivals by the end of 2012.

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