Hawaii Tourism Pleasantly on the Up and Up
Tourism to the Hawaiian Islands has rebounded from the dark days of 2009/10, during which airline lift to the islands was reduced by over 1 million seats. This past May visitors to Hawaii surpassed the May 2007 all time high. May statistics from the Hawaiian Tourism Authority advised statewide visitor spending increased 17.5%, with total arrivals up 12.5%.
Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaiian Tourism Authority advised "Total expenditures and arrivals achieved record highs for the second consecutive month, reaching $1.1 billion and bringing 622,899 visitors."
The biggest single impact has been the post tsunami recovery of Hawaii’s Japanese tourism market. Scheduled air seat capacity to Hawaii from Japan increased 21%; visitor arrivals from Japan were up 31%.
However May visitors from the U.S. mainland increased sizably, with West Coast arrivals up nearly 9% and Eastern USA arrivals approaching a 7% increase.
In an exclusive interview with TravelMole, Jack Richards, President & CEO of major U.S. tour operator Pleasant Holidays said "We’ve recovered all the seats lost in 2008. The forecast for the next 3-4 years is very robust for traffic to the Hawaiian Islands." Richards advised that Hawaii has fully recovered the nearly 1 million seats lost by the 2008 bankruptcies of carriers Aloha and ATA. When asked about consumer purchasing trends Richards said "The luxury market is way up this year, specifically in Hawaii. The new Disney Aulani Resort has created a family market, and overall the luxury sector is the fastest growing segment we have."
To view the TravelMole interview with Jack Richards go to: http://travelmole.tv/watch_vdo.php?sid=1&id=15809
By Kieron Keady
Kieron Keady
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