Visitor arrival numbers continue their upward trend.
And Hawaii's tourism officials have a positive outlook for the summer, thanks to several major conventions.
One of those major conventions is going on right now, and from the overall looks of things in Waikiki, it's a lot busier now than it was last year.
At time when many companies are cutting back, Royal Cosmetics Company continues to give its employees the royal treatment, and Hawaii benefits from it.
"I just love Hawaii and my family, Royal family loves Hawaii too," said Tadashi Momozono, Royal Cosmetics Co. Chairman and CEO.
Momozono flew about a thousand of his top salespeople to Hawaii from Japan, as he's done for 13 years, as an incentive for reaching sales goals.
"And this group will probably spend about two million dollars in Hawaii while they're here," said Mike McCartney, Hawaii Tourism Authority President.
A trip that's part business meetings, part play.
"Of course they went to beach, and they love shopping and especially men they enjoy playing golf," said Momozono.
This is just one of several big conventions in Honolulu this summer.
Next month, 5500 people are scheduled to attend the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference at the Hawaii Convention Center.
And 12,000 people are scheduled to attend the Baptist World Congress.
"This is the second consecutive month we've had an increase in visitor arrivals and visitor spending. The whole year we're up in visitor arrivals," said McCartney.
According to Hospitality Advisors' latest report, for the week ending May 29th, occupancy at Hawaii's hotels increased to 68.5%, up nearly 5% compared to the same week last year.
However, room rates were down by nearly 3%, at an average price of $163 a night.
"He's going to come again next year, thank you thank you."
And while you may not recognize the name Royal Cosmetics, since it's a company that sells skin care and hair products mainly in Japan, you may recall the fireworks show they put on every time they visit.
A 20-minute show off of Waikiki, with a $700,000 price tag.
"Japanese people love Hawaii and fireworks, two things to celebrate," said Momozono.
Today Governor Lingle left for a two week trip to China and Japan.
Part of her mission is to encourage more people to visit Hawaii.
