Hawaii tourism continues blistering pace in April [View all]

Visitor arrivals and spending to the Hawaiian islands increased for the 11th straight month in April, keeping Hawaii on track for its sixth year in a row of record tourism.

In April, visitors to Hawaii rose to 752,964, an 8 percent year-over-year gain, according to preliminary data released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Visitor spending also grew 9 percent from April of 2016 to $1.3 billion.

“April was a better month than expected, with the Easter holiday and Golden Week in Japan contributing to increased travel demand. Visitor spending statewide grew 9 percent over last year, fueled by the strong performance of Hawaii’s core markets, U.S. West, U.S. East, Japan and Canada,” HTA president and CEO George Szigeti said in a statement. “The economies of Hawaii’s four major islands felt the positive impact of these results, highlighted by Maui, Kauai and the island of Hawaii all reporting double-digit growth in visitor spending.”

Spending from U.S. West visitors, Hawaii’s top market, rose 17 percent in April to $490 million, while arrivals grew 9 percent to 321,877. Visitors from the U.S. East spent $299 million, up 12 percent from the prior year. U.S. East arrivals increased 11 percent to 147,532.

Read more: http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/05/25/business/business-breaking/hawaii-tourism-continues-blistering-pace-in-april/