Visitor numbers up statewide in April
Visitor numbers up statewide in April
- - Maui News
By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
HONOLULU - A boom in paradise weddings and a resurgent Japanese tourism are driving the Hawaii visitor industry to new levels.
In April, total arrivals in the islands were up 14.4 percent to 548,684, although Maui County did not take part in the gains.
Maui island was down slightly, less than 1 percent, to 178,630. Molokai and Lanai, both in the midst of a months-long slide, were down substantially - Molokai's count was down 28.6 percent to 5,431; and Lanai's was down 33.0 percent to 6,330.
Terryl Vencl, executive director of the Maui Visitors Bureau, says the stagnation in numbers is largely due to problems of interisland air lift - Japanese travelers are having a difficult time reaching Maui County.
Year-to-date figures bear this out. Maui's domestic traffic is up 2.3 percent for the first four months, down 21.0 percent internationally.
This is striking, since in April Oahu's overall count was up 19.2 percent to 334,965, with international traffic up 45.6 percent to 131,091.
Hawaii's interisland carriers have been struggling with costs and have rationed their schedules. This has improved revenue but also means that comparatively few seats fly empty.
This is especially a problem for Japanese groups, says Vencl, who need to find 20, 30 or 40 seats on one interisland flight.
"They don't travel FIT (free and independent traveler)," she said.
The fact that Japan's Golden Week holidays, a peak period for travel, occurred in April also was a factor in the overall state figures, but didn't do anything for Maui.
Matthew Hart, executive vice president for resorts on Lanai, says the decline there - 32.4 percent for the first four months - is partly real, partly a difference in databases.
Overall travel to Lanai is down this year, he says, primarily because of a decline in group business (but hardly any of that had been Japanese).
His own records show a decline for rooms sold in April of 7 percent, not 33 percent.
"There are a couple of databases," Hart says.
His internal records and independent hotel occupancy figures would tend to show that both Lanai and Maui are doing better than the headcounts of the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
The state counts are based on voluntary surveys of airline passengers, at least for domestic travel.
Thus, Smith Travel Research, which surveys occupancy, shows Maui island ahead of the next busiest island in occupancy by several percentage points.
Another hint that Maui's experience may be better than the headcount suggests is the length-of-stay number.
For domestic visitors - close to 90 percent of Maui's trade - Maui visitors stayed an average of 7.46 days in April.
These travelers increasingly fly direct, avoiding the interisland seat problem. The direct flights also are cutting down the proportion of visitors who hop from one island to another.
Single-island visits were up on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Hawaii.
For domestic travelers, besides Maui only Oahu had an LOS greater than 7 in April, and it was 7.01.
Kauai's visitor count last month was 83,223, up 5.6 percent. Hawaii's was 102,829, up 5.5 percent.
As for weddings, DBEDT says 88,000 couples came to the state to be married so far this year.
The governor's tourism liaison, Marsha Wienert, cited both growth in cruise ship traffic and the wedding business as reasons for the increased numbers.
The 88,000 weddings represents a 26.4 percent increase over the same period in 2003, she said.
"Hawaii's cruise industry remains strong and we are especially pleases by the increase in average daily spending," she said.
The 50,349 cruise ship visitors accounted for 3.1 percent of the total visitor count.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.
- - Maui News
By HARRY EAGAR, Staff Writer
HONOLULU - A boom in paradise weddings and a resurgent Japanese tourism are driving the Hawaii visitor industry to new levels.
In April, total arrivals in the islands were up 14.4 percent to 548,684, although Maui County did not take part in the gains.
Maui island was down slightly, less than 1 percent, to 178,630. Molokai and Lanai, both in the midst of a months-long slide, were down substantially - Molokai's count was down 28.6 percent to 5,431; and Lanai's was down 33.0 percent to 6,330.
Terryl Vencl, executive director of the Maui Visitors Bureau, says the stagnation in numbers is largely due to problems of interisland air lift - Japanese travelers are having a difficult time reaching Maui County.
Year-to-date figures bear this out. Maui's domestic traffic is up 2.3 percent for the first four months, down 21.0 percent internationally.
This is striking, since in April Oahu's overall count was up 19.2 percent to 334,965, with international traffic up 45.6 percent to 131,091.
Hawaii's interisland carriers have been struggling with costs and have rationed their schedules. This has improved revenue but also means that comparatively few seats fly empty.
This is especially a problem for Japanese groups, says Vencl, who need to find 20, 30 or 40 seats on one interisland flight.
"They don't travel FIT (free and independent traveler)," she said.
The fact that Japan's Golden Week holidays, a peak period for travel, occurred in April also was a factor in the overall state figures, but didn't do anything for Maui.
Matthew Hart, executive vice president for resorts on Lanai, says the decline there - 32.4 percent for the first four months - is partly real, partly a difference in databases.
Overall travel to Lanai is down this year, he says, primarily because of a decline in group business (but hardly any of that had been Japanese).
His own records show a decline for rooms sold in April of 7 percent, not 33 percent.
"There are a couple of databases," Hart says.
His internal records and independent hotel occupancy figures would tend to show that both Lanai and Maui are doing better than the headcounts of the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
The state counts are based on voluntary surveys of airline passengers, at least for domestic travel.
Thus, Smith Travel Research, which surveys occupancy, shows Maui island ahead of the next busiest island in occupancy by several percentage points.
Another hint that Maui's experience may be better than the headcount suggests is the length-of-stay number.
For domestic visitors - close to 90 percent of Maui's trade - Maui visitors stayed an average of 7.46 days in April.
These travelers increasingly fly direct, avoiding the interisland seat problem. The direct flights also are cutting down the proportion of visitors who hop from one island to another.
Single-island visits were up on Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Hawaii.
For domestic travelers, besides Maui only Oahu had an LOS greater than 7 in April, and it was 7.01.
Kauai's visitor count last month was 83,223, up 5.6 percent. Hawaii's was 102,829, up 5.5 percent.
As for weddings, DBEDT says 88,000 couples came to the state to be married so far this year.
The governor's tourism liaison, Marsha Wienert, cited both growth in cruise ship traffic and the wedding business as reasons for the increased numbers.
The 88,000 weddings represents a 26.4 percent increase over the same period in 2003, she said.
"Hawaii's cruise industry remains strong and we are especially pleases by the increase in average daily spending," she said.
The 50,349 cruise ship visitors accounted for 3.1 percent of the total visitor count.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com.
posted by DP at 7:19 PM
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