US (Hawaii). Japanese visitor arrivals to Hawaii surged by +25.6% year-on-year in May to 97,838, helping to drive a +31.8% increase in total expenditure by this key nationality.
This time last year government restrictions and concerns over the H1N1 flu virus hit visitor arrivals from Asia, causing a -15.5% decrease in Japanese visitors. But despite the soft comparison base, the high double-digit increase is very positive news for Hawaii’s travel retailers, led by DFS Group.
With a sharp recent increase in other Asian flights to Hawaii the business outlook is “looking more positive by the day”, as one prominent retail executive told The Moodie Report.
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Official figures from the Hawaii Tourism Authority also revealed a rise in average daily spending by Japanese visitors (up to US$281 per person from US$263 in May 2009)
The Authority noted the continued strong growth in FIT visitors (+36.2%) – the eleventh consecutive month of increased FIT arrivals since July 2009. Japanese visitors who purchased group tours were also up (+61.1%).
For the first five months of 2010 Japanese visitor numbers increased by +6.1%.
Overall Hawaii posted a +6.5% increase in visitor arrivals by air for May.
Among the top four visitor markets, arrivals by air from Japan (+25.6%), Canada (+14.6%) and US West (+2.4%) rose but arrivals from US East (-2.9%) declined compared to May 2009.
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