HAWAI‘I TOURISM INDUSTRY SETS NEW RECORDS IN 2015

8.6 MILLION VISITORS; $15.2 BILLION IN EXPENDITURES

News Release from HTA, January 28, 2016

HONOLULU – For the fourth straight year, Hawai‘i’s tourism industry set new records with the totals of visitor arrivals and visitor expenditures generated for the state in 2015, according to preliminary year-end statistics released today by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Altogether, a record total of 8,649,357 visitors were welcomed to Hawai‘i in 2015, a 4.1 percent increase over 2014, producing a record total of $15.2 billion in visitor expenditures, an increase of 2.3 percent year-over-year. Total visitor days1 for 2015 grew 3.5 percent and, on average, there were 214,469 visitors in Hawai‘i on any given day (average daily census), an increase of 3.5 percent versus 2014.

Arrivals on airlines grew 4.3 percent to 8,533,978 visitors in 2015, driven by increases from U.S. West, U.S. East, Australia and China. More direct air service to Hawai‘i supported growth in arrivals from these markets. In contrast, eight fewer out-of-state cruise ships served the islands in 2015 with 115,378 visitors a decrease of 7.3 percent compared to 2014.

This year also set a new record for annual arrivals to the islands of O‘ahu and Maui. However, arrivals to Hawai‘i Island and Kaua‘i did not exceed the record level of visitors seen back in 2007.

For the month of December 2015, Hawai‘i welcomed 794,246 visitors, an increase of 3.7 percent, producing total visitor expenditures of $1.5 billion, an increase of 2.5 percent (+$37 million) versus December 2014. The average daily spending of $197 per person was similar to December 2014….

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SA: Tourism industry set new arrivals, spending records in 2015