Hawaii's tourism industry ended 2011 on a strong note, with record spending in the month of December.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority says visitors spent $1.298 billion in December, the highest single month on record. Spending was bolstered by a 7.8% growth in total visitor arrivals, to 683,293 visitors. And daily spending was also up, from $169 per person in December 2010 to $185 per person.
December's strong performance also resulted in annual visitor expenditures increasing to $12.581 billion in 2011, making it the second highest level of visitor spending in the history of tourism in the Hawaiian Islands, down 0.4 percent compared to the 2007 peak year when visitor spending reached $12.626 billion.
All islands experienced increases in both total visitor expenditures and visitor arrivals in 2011 compared to last year.
O'ahu (+18.7% and +2.9%)
Maui (+12.9% and +4.1%)
Moloka'i (+5.4% and +14.8%)
Lanai (+27.7% and +12.4%)
Kaua'i (+18.9% and +6.3%)
Hawai'i Island (+5.3% and +2.8%)
"The first quarter of 2012 looks strong," says Mike McCartney, President and CEO of the Hawai'i Tourism Authority. "We will continue to work together with our marketing partners and the visitor industry to sustain the momentum we saw last year and achieve steady growth for another momentous year in 2012."
