US (HAWAII). The Japanese “˜Silver Week’ holiday period – three national holidays combined with a weekend – spurred a +16.7% year-on-year rise in Japanese arrivals to Hawaii during September.
This was the first double-digit increase in Japanese arrivals since March 2005 (+11.6%), and welcome news for Hawaii’s travel retail sector.
For the first nine months of 2009 Japanese visitor numbers were down by -7.5% to 824,933.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority noted that total visitor days for air and cruise visitors in September rose by +4.8% year-on-year, boosted by a +7.2% rise in total arrivals by air and cruise ships to 494,376.
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Despite the increases in arrivals, total visitor expenditure for September declined due to lower average daily spending (US$171 per person, down from US$186 in September 2008).
September’s growth appeared particularly positive compared to September 2008 which saw a -19.5% decline. However that fall was partially due to an early Labor Day which fell on September 1 as visitors arriving for the holiday weekend were counted in August.
Though more Japanese visitors came to Hawaii, their daily spending fell by -12.9% to US$255 per person.
Pre-paid package trips by Japanese visitors rose +7.1% but the real surge came from independent Japanese travellers – up +35.7% year-on-year.
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