Arrivals flat,
By Russ Lynch
census down in May
Star-BulletinHawaii hosted 2,270 fewer tourists on an average day last month than it did in May 1996, marking the continuation of a trend that has tourist industry officials worried. That trend is shorter stays by visitors from both the mainland and Asia, particularly Japan.
Figures issued today by the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau show that although the total number of arrivals in May were virtually unchanged from May 1996, shorter stays lowered the daily tourist census.
And that, tourism executives say, means less opportunity for visitors to spend money in the state.
May tourist arrivals from all points totaled 532,010 and that was only one-tenth of one percent under the May 1996 total of 532,660.
But in five of the last seven months, the average daily count has been lower than it was at the same time last year. Last month, it was a daily average of 134,320 compared with 136,590 in May 1996.
"Despite some gains in visitor arrivals in March and April, we are still concerned with the losses we are seeing in average daily census and visitor days," said Roberta Rinker-Ludloff, HVCB vice president of marketing.
Last month, westbound and eastbound travelers showed almost the same drop in the average daily census -- 1.7 percent for westbound visitors, mostly from the mainland and Canada; 1.6 percent for eastbound visitors, mostly from Japan.
But the drop in the eastbound daily census, covering visitors from Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries, had been leading the way since last year, falling in six of the last seven months.
The total number of eastbound arrivals last month was at its highest level ever for May, up 3 percent, at 224,100 from 217,350 in May 1996.
However, the average length of stay among eastbound arrivals slipped 4.5 percent, to 5.28 days from 5.53 days a year earlier, causing the lower daily census.
Westbound arrivals were down 2.3 percent last month at 307,910, from 315,130 in the year-earlier month.
The westbound length of stay increased a slight 0.6 percent, to 9.88 days from the previous May's 9.62 days, but that still left the westbound daily census lower.
May's overall performance left Hawaii a half a percentage point lower in total visitors through the first five months of the year, 2,800,620 from the start of the year through the end of May compared with 2,814,440 in the equivalent period last year.
The soft market was expected, the HVCB said, and the Legislature allocated $4 million for a mainland advertising campaign, which began April 19. Lawmakers also allocated $6 million for advertising in Japan.
Rinker-Ludloff said the HVCB hopes for a stronger summer as a result of that spending.
Among the individual islands, Oahu had a 1 percent increase in arrivals last month compared with May 1996, for a total of 394,560, but all the other islands were down except Lanai.
