The Hawaii Tourism Authority has high hopes for the China market, especially now that Air China has begun their new non stop service between Beijing and Honolulu. Air China will fly this route three times per week. The HTA predicts that this new service will bring the islands an additional $80.4 million in visitor spending per year and an additional annual state tax revenue of $8.6 million. Furthermore, Hawaiian Airlines has also announced that they will begin their own service between Beijing and Honolulu starting on April 16th and will also fly three times per week between the two cities.
According to the Hawaiian Tourism Authority, these two new routes by Air China and Hawaiian Airlines should help them reach their goal of a total of 182,078 Chinese visitors in 2014 spending approximately $441.7 million. If this goal is achieved, this would represent a 21.5 percent increase in the number of visitors from China and an increase of 23.3 percent in visitor spending. President and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Mike McCartney, stated, "The success of our visitor industry has a direct correlation with the increased airlift, and we are committed to ensuring that we maintain a strong inventory of air seats to support our industry and our state's economy."
Air China's general manager of North America, Zhihang Chi, commented, "Demand for international travel is growing (in China). With the very wise easing of visa restrictions, the U.S. is in a strong position to capture the wave of outbound travel. Honolulu is the first new destination that Air China has launched in 2014, and it is timed very close to Chinese New Year to create a truly festive atmosphere."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 1-21-2014, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Principal Broker, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
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