The latest visitor numbers show a rare uptick, but visitor spending hasn't been as low in years.September's arrivals compared to the same month last year are up 7.2 percent.
That's after a flat august and a July that had posted only slight gains.
“We're not out of the woods yet. There's some tough economic times globally that are coming forward, October and the rest of the year are still going to be challenging for everyone,” said Mike McCartney of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
That's because a tough spring and early summer still weigh heavily on the overall tally, with year to date numbers still down nearly six percent compared to an already weak 2008.
Visitor spending seems stuck in low gear.
Mainland visitors are spending about eight percent less
Japanese visitors spend double that per day but that's still off nearly 13 percent below last year
“Until that demand is there and consumer confidence comes back and the economy improves, we've still got some tough months ahead of us,” said state tourism liaison, Marsha Wienert.
So what gave September its upward blip in arrivals?
A big dental conference brought in 20,000 people, and silver week sent nearly 17 percent more Japanese visitors our way.
“September had everything going for it, the convention, silver week, marketing everything else,” said Wienert.
The marketing came in large part of hotel initiatives combined with HVCB saturation in target markets.
But the longer visitor spending remains low, the less the state will have to spend on that.
“Room rats are down, collections in TAT are down, so that has a ripple effect down to the HTA who has even less money than they anticipated this year,” said Wienert.
“During this next year we're going to have to really maintain our market share and compete with major destinations,” said McCartney.
Despite some upticks, some neighbor islands are still suffering in tourism.
“We're trying to make sure that there's direct airlift from gateway cities on the U.S. West especially and Japan to neighbor island destinations,” said McCartney.
The HTA says October arrivals are tracking lower than last year.
However two conventions in November could bring up to 30,000 people.
