MEDIA RELEASE

Visitors who came to Hawaii in June 2013 spent a total of $1.3 billion, an increase of 7 percent from June 2012, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Total arrivals, which have shown continuous growth since September 2011, rose 5.5 percent to 716,577 visitors in June 2013.

Daily spending by all visitors increased 2.4 percent to $198 per person. The average length of stay by all visitors of 9.24 days was about the same compared to June 2012.

In the first half of 2013, total visitor expenditures rose 6.9 percent to $7.4 billion and total arrivals grew 5.6 percent to 4,155,868 visitors.

Arrivals by air from U.S. West increased 10.4 percent to 313,526 visitors in June 2013, while total expenditures grew 15.3 percent to $482.2 million. Even though U.S. East arrivals declined (-3.4% to 170,991 visitors), higher daily spending (+5.2% to $202 per person) netted $361.1 million in total U.S. East visitor expenditures, comparable to June 2012.

Arrivals from Japan rose 3.1 percent to 120,417 visitors in June 2013. However, lower daily spending (-9.1% to $294 per person) and a shorter length of stay (-5.2% to 5.88 days) resulted in an 11.2 percent drop in total visitor expenditures to $208.3 million.

Arrivals from Canada increased 9.7 percent to 17,582 visitors while total visitor expenditures grew 11.1 percent to $33.4 million.

Arrivals from All Other markets rose 10 percent to 94,061 visitors, driven by strong growth from Oceania (+35.2%) and Other Asia (+14.1%) compared to June 2012. Combined total expenditures from All Other visitors increased 23.2 percent to $222.1 million.

No out-of-state cruise ships came to Hawaii in June 2013; however, total cruise visitors (by cruise ship and by air) remained flat compared to June 2012.

Total visitor expenditures increased on the four larger Hawaiian Islands compared to June 2012.

Total air seats in June 2013 increased 8.3 percent to 932,884 seats, with double-digit growth in scheduled seats from Oceania (+63.2%) and Other Asia (+28.5%).

Mid-Year 2013

Total expenditures by U.S. West (+12.4% to $2.5 billion) and U.S. East (+8.5% to $1.9 billion) visitors were higher compared to the first half of 2012, but total spending by Japanese visitors declined 5.6 percent to $1.2 billion.

Arrivals from Oceania (+33.5%), Other Asia (+22.1%), Europe (+12.7%) and Latin America (+30.5%) rose significantly; while arrivals from U.S. West (+7.4%), U.S. East (+1%), Japan (+5.2%) and Canada (+3.2%) showed moderate growth.

Maui (+11.9% to $1.9 billion; +3.8% to 1,200,190 visitors), Hawaii Island (+20.6% to $979.7 million; +5.8% to 753,678 visitors) and Kauai (+15.4% to $731 million; +5.3% to 560,732 visitors) showed growth in total visitor expenditures and arrivals compared to the first half of 2012.

Total visitor spending on Oahu ($3.7 billion) was similar to June 2012, while arrivals rose 6.7 percent to 2,515,823 visitors.

Other Highlights

Arrivals from Australia (+35%), New Zealand (+36.4%) and Korea (+16.7%) in June 2013 were much higher compared to last June.

Supported by increased air service, arrivals from Australia (+29% to 144,309), New Zealand (+83.1% to 18,291), China (+24.4% to 70,885) and Korea (+20% 83,725) increased by double-digits for the first half of 2013. Arrivals from Europe rose 12.7 percent to 59,431 visitors.

Contributing to the growth in U.S. West arrivals in June 2013 was a 9.8 percent increase from the Pacific region: California (+10.5% to 190,616), Washington (+8.7% to 35,739) and Oregon (+5.1% to 16,415). Arrivals from the Mountain region rose 14.5 percent from June 2012.

Except for a 1.2 percent drop from New Mexico, all other Mountain region states showed growth in arrivals compared to last June. The first half of 2013 saw more arrivals from the Pacific (+5.8%) and Mountain (+8%) regions compared to 2012.

The drop in U.S. East arrivals in June 2013 was due to fewer visitors from the West South Central (-6.3%), South Atlantic (-3.7%) and East South Central (-7.4%) regions, which offset growth from the West North Central (+3.2%) and New England (+1.1%) regions.

For the first half of 2013, arrivals increased from the Mid Atlantic (+10.8%) and New England (+7.9%) regions but declined from the East South Central (-5.5%), West South Central (-3.3%), East North Central (-2.4%) and West North Central (-2.2%) regions.

There were more first-time visitors from U.S. West (20.4%, up from 18.8%) and U.S. East (45.4%, up from 44.1%) in June 2013, compared to the same month last year.

The total number of visitors who came for meetings, conventions and incentives (MCI) fell 4.3 percent from June 2012. This decrease was partially offset by a 79.6 percent jump in total incentive travelers (to 15,404 visitors). Japanese incentive visitors almost tripled (to 10,045) compared to June 2012, and accounted for most of the growth in total Japanese arrivals.

However, convention visitors in June 2013 declined 35 percent (to 13,210 visitors) as a result of fewer visitors from U.S. West (-33%% to 4,190), U.S. East (-29.4% to 4,919) and Japan (-66.8% to 813).

Corporate meeting visitors dropped 20.5 percent (to 4,871). For the first half of 2013, total MCI visitors increased 10.3 percent, as strong growth in incentive visitors (+60.4%) compensated for fewer convention (-5.6%) and corporate meeting (-6.4%) visitors.

Significantly more visitors came to get married (+43.8% to 14,411 visitors) in June 2013, driven by a 76.4 percent growth in Japanese visitors (to 8,161). The number of U.S. East (+23.8%) and U.S. West (+8.2%) visitors who came to get married also increased from June 2012. However, for the first half of 2013, 1.8 percent fewer visitors came to get married compared to the same period last year.

Total stays in condominium properties rose 9.4 percent (to 131,529 visitors) in June 2013, with double-digit growth from U.S. West (+10.7% to 76,693), Japan (+40.1% to 10,670) and Canada (+13.7% to 5,849). For the first half of 2013, stays in condominium properties grew 6.7 percent to 743,930 visitors.

A total of 10,219 visitors came for sporting events in June 2013, up 45.5 percent from a year ago. There were five times more visitors from U.S. West who came for sporting events than in June 2012. The US Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships held in mid-June 2013 contributed to this increase.

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 June 2013, total FIT visitors rose 7.5 percent from last June to 452,130 visitors, boosted by increases from U.S. West (+13.3% to 246,127), Japan (12% to 22,982) and Canada (+7.9% to 12,697). For the first half of 2013, the number of FIT visitors grew 7 percent to 2,641,051.

Island Highlights for June 2013:

Oahu: Total arrivals to Oahu rose 6.9 percent from June 2012 to 456,476 visitors, with increases from all markets except U.S. East (-4.6%). However, the length of stay by all visitors on this island was shorter (-5.1% to 7 days) compared to June 2012. The result was a 1.6 percent growth in total visitor expenditures to $670.1 million.

Hawaii Island: Growth in arrivals (+11.4%) and a longer length of stay (+1.6% to 7 days) contributed to a 13.6 percent increase in total visitor expenditures on Hawaii Island to $163.7 million. There were more U.S. West (+5.6% to 51,548), U.S. East (+1.6% to 39,764), Japanese (+32.8% to 19,795) and Canadian (+9.9% to 3,265) visitors to Hawaii Island compared to June 2012.

Maui: In June 2013, arrivals to Maui rose 1.6 percent to 210,286 visitors. Growth from U.S. West (+3.8% to 109,887), Canada (+11% to 8,362) and Japan (+43.8% to 7,713) offset a 2.6 percent decrease from U.S. East (to 62,991). Increased daily spending (+7% to $199 per person) and a longer length of stay (+3.3% to 7.85 days) boosted Maui’s total visitor expenditures (+12.3%) to $328.8 million.

Kauai: Arrivals to Kauai grew 4.7 percent to 106,745 visitors in June 2013 with increases from US. West (+9.2% to 57,524) offsetting fewer visitors from U.S. East (-7% to 33,982) and Japan (-26.2% to 2,479). Higher daily spending (+9.8% to $169 per person) and a longer length of stay (+2.6% to 7.58 days) led to an 18 percent growth in total visitor expenditures to $136.4 million.

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

Hawaii’s tourism economy has done well for the first six months of the year, outpacing 2012. Despite the strengthening U.S. dollar and increasing prices for travel to the state, we were pleased to see the momentum continue for the Hawaiian Islands.

There were 1,200 more visitors per day contributing to an additional $2.6 million spent in the state each day during the first six months of this year compared to 2012. This translates to $477 million more private dollars into our economy than last year, providing the state of Hawaii $50 million more in state tax revenue.

In order for us to maintain the success of tourism to our state in the long term and continue to drive demand, it is important that we work towards increasing and upgrading accommodations across the state from Hilo to Ko Olina to Wailea.

We will work with our industry partners and the community towards smart and sustainable development for our Hawaiian Islands, that will provide for our economy, grow our tax base and create more jobs.

Diversification is also a key objective for creating a sustainable tourism economy, and the addition of new departure cities from Asia, including Taipei and Sendai, support our plans for growth.

As we move into the second half of the year, we must be mindful that the world economy is fragile. We will need to invest more to keep our market share and stay competitive.

Hawaii has reached a point where prices for visiting the Hawaiian Islands has limited the flow of in-bound business.

More will be discussed on this topic as it relates to the cost of a Hawaii vacation and what challenges and opportunities lay ahead at the 2013 Hawaii Tourism Conference, Aug. 22-23.