2011 Hawaii arrivals, spending reach best levels since 2007
By Shane Nelson
Thanks in part to an all-time spending mark
set in December, Hawaii’s 2011 visitor arrivals and expenditure totals reached levels the
Aloha State hasn’t enjoyed since 2007.
Preliminary figures released last week
by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA)
showed travelers spent $1.3 billion across
the Islands in December, boosting the destination’s total 2011 visitor expenditures by
more than 15% year over year, to $12.58
billion, a sum second only to 2007’s peak of
$12.61 billion.
Impressive December arrivals figures
helped push Hawaii’s total visitor count to
“We thought with
the disasters in Japan
we would end up a
lot lower,” said Mike
McCartney, the HTA’s
president and CEO.
Following the
earthquake and tsu-
nami in March, he
said, “we launched a
strategic tourism recovery plan and worked
hard with the industry to try to increase lift
from places like Korea, Oceania and Canada.”
He added, “We’re pleased with where we
came out, because we thought the year was
going to be a lot tougher than what it actu-
ally yielded.”
Although total visitors from the Japanese
market were off by about 5% last year, ar-
rivals from other Asian countries jumped
more than 20%, while visitors from Ocea-
nia and Canada surged 31.7% and 17.9%,
respectively.
“In Canada, Australia, China and even
Japan, the [U.S.] dollar is a little weaker
and their currency is stronger,” McCartney
said. “We’ve been taking advantage of that
because Hawaii is so well positioned in the
region. Travel is an export, and we’re the
fifth-largest entry port in the U.S.”
Arrivals from the mainland U.S. also
finished the year higher, with visitors from
Western states up 2.4% over 2010 and
those from the East climbing 2%. Travelers
also stayed longer: Total visitor days in Ha-
waii increased 5.4%.
Mainland U.S. business to the Islands
was even better in 2011 for Minneapolis-based MLT Vacations. According to company Co-president and Chief Marketing
Officer Ken Pomerantz, the tour operator’s
year-over-year Hawaii growth percentages
far outpaced the HTA figures.
“Our business was up over 40%, and our
revenue was up over 50%,” Pomerantz said,
adding that a sizeable chunk of that growth
was generated by their debut of the United
Vacations product Jan. 1 last year. “But I can
tell you that our existing [Delta and Worry-Free Vacations] brands grew at much more
than the 3% or so Hawaii reported.”
Mike McCartney
President and CEO
Hawaii Tourism
Authority
in available air seats following the collapse
of Aloha Airlines and ATA in the spring of
2008.
Although air seats to the state remain
11% short of 2006’s peak, HTA officials
said carriers were flying smaller planes with
higher load factors in 2011, and total seats
increased 1% over 2010.
“One of the real positive things for 2012
is this new airlift from New York from Ha-
waiian Airlines,” McCartney said. “And we
just had the announcement that United is
going to fly daily to Honolulu out of Wash-
ington, D.C. Those flights are going to open
up a lot of opportunities for us.”
Both McCartney and Pomerantz expect
growth for Hawaii in 2012, a forecast sup-
ported by Kelly Sanders, the general man-
ager at the 1,636-room Sheraton Waikiki.
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Airlift gets a boost
Hawaii visitor spending sank to $9.8 billion in 2009, a six-year low for the destination that stemmed, in part, from a 15% cut
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