West Coast tourists shunning Hawaii; $457 million decline biggest ever

HONOLULU — Tourism to Hawaii from the U.S. West Coast has recorded its biggest drop on record with a $457 million decline in total tourist spending for the year so far.

The latest state count shows 24 percent fewer visitors came in from California and other West Coast states in August than the same month a year ago.

The most direct measure of the impact on state businesses and the economy, though, is a decline of 8.7 percent in overall tourist spending so far this year, compared with 2007. It went from $8.2 billion to $7.8 billion for the year's first eight months, with no change of the trend in sight.

Overall, visitor arrivals and spending are down by big margins for the month and for the year so far — a drop of more than 17 percent in both spending and the number of visitors for August, according to the latest figures from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The decline in cruise ship visitors from all parts of the world saw the biggest drop — 47 percent from a year ago — with the loss of two of Norwegian Cruise Line's big interisland ships and a decrease in international cruises stopping in the islands.

The decline is on all islands for travelers from just about all major markets — except for Canada.

"Hawaii visitor industry is feeling the effects of the continued softness in the national economy," said Marsha Wienert, the state tourism liaison who released the latest data Friday.

Wienert blamed rising fuel prices, the mortgage crisis, reduced consumer confidence and the loss of the cruise ships for Hawaii's tourism woes.

She pointed to an 8.5 percent increase in Canadian tourists for August as a bright spot, although Canadians, whose currency is now worth more than the U.S. dollar, still only account for little more than 3 percent of all Hawaii tourists.

Wienert said the number of airplane seats available from Canada has gone up nearly 20 percent since August 2007 and she noted that nearly 50 percent of the Canadians were on their first trip to the islands.

Visits from the U.S. East were down nearly 17 percent and from Japan 14 percent from the same month a year ago.

There also have been small increases in the percentage of tourists coming for honeymoons or weddings, with nearly 120,000 honeymooners from Japan alone, up 4.7 percent for the year so far.

All islands reported visitors were spending less in August than a year ago: down 17 percent on Oahu to $471 million, down 16 percent on Maui to $259 million, down 18 percent on the Big Island to $130 million and down 18 percent on Kauai to $103 million.