The Hawaii Tourism Authority released a report stating that visitor arrivals to Hawaii increased by 8.6 percent and visitor spending increased by 12.7 percent in October 2012 as compared to the same month a year ago. This equates to 640,666 visitors and $1.1 billion in spending which quite frankly surprised tourism experts due to the fact that October is traditionally a slow tourism month for the islands. Sales and Marketing Director for the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani in Waikiki, Alvin Wong, commented, “We didn’t see any resemblance of a shoulder season in October. The momentum from summer has continued into fall and beyond. We’re looking at mostly 90 percent occupancies into the first quarter of next year.”
President and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Mike McCartney, stated, “As tourism continues to stimulate Hawaii’s economy, the HTA is optimistic that this positive momentum will continue through the rest of the year and will lead us to exceed our aggressive 2012 targets of 7.89 million total visitor arrivals and $13.9 billion in total expenditures. Hawaii has become the fourth-largest port of entry in the U.S., after New York, Miami and Los Angeles. We’ve got the fastest growth rate at 24 percent.”
Still Mike McCartney noted that more work could be done to improve tourism for the neighbor islands, as the majority of the visitors have been coming to Oahu and Waikiki. McCartney added, “Distribution remains a major priority for the HTA, and together with our marketing contractors and industry partners, we continue to work to drive travel to the neighbor islands.”
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 11-30-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
