Does anyone find it amusing that the "Are we in a recession?" question isn't even discussed anymore by our fearless leaders? Somehow we haven't officially acknowledged a recession but we're on the brink of a depression....
Tourism
from
West Coast
records
biggest
drop yet
BY DAVID BRISCOE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — Tourism to
Hawaii from the U.S. West
Coast has recorded its biggest
drop on record with a
$457 million decline in total
tourist spending for the year
so far.
The latest state count
shows 24 percent fewer visitors
came in from California
and other West Coast states
in August than the same
month a year ago.
The most direct measure
of the impact on state businesses
and the economy,
though, is a decline of 8.7
percent in overall tourist
spending so far this year,
compared with 2007. It went
from $8.2 billion to $7.8 billion
for the year’s first eight
months, with no change of
the trend in sight.
Overall, visitor arrivals
and spending are down by
big margins for the month
and for the year so far — a
drop of more than 17 percent
in both spending and
the number of visitors for
August, according to the
latest figures from the
Department of Business,
Economic Development
and Tourism.
The decline in cruise ship
visitors from all parts of the
world saw the biggest drop
— 47 percent from a year
ago — with the loss of two
of Norwegian Cruise Line’s
big interisland ships and
a decrease in international
cruises stopping in the
islands.
The decline is on all
islands for travelers from
just about all major markets
— except for Canada.
“Hawaii visitor industry is
feeling the effects of the continued
softness in the national
economy,” said Marsha
Wienert, the state tourism
liaison who released the latest
data Friday.
Wienert blamed rising
fuel prices, the mortgage
crisis, reduced consumer
confidence and the loss of
the cruise ships for Hawaii’s
tourism woes.
She pointed to an 8.5 percent
increase in Canadian
tourists for August as a bright
spot, although Canadians,
whose currency is now worth
more than the U.S. dollar,
still only account for little
more than 3 percent of all
Hawaii tourists.
Wienert said the number
of airplane seats available
from Canada has gone
up nearly 20 percent since
August 2007, and she noted
that nearly 50 percent of the
Canadians were on their first
trip to the islands.
Visits from the U.S. East
were down nearly 17 percent
and from Japan 14 percent
from the same month a year
ago.
There also have been small
increases in the percentage
of tourists coming for honeymoons
or weddings, with
nearly 120,000 honeymooners
from Japan alone, up 4.7
percent for the year so far.
All islands reported visitors
were spending less in
August than a year ago: down
17 percent on Oahu to $471
million, down 16 percent on
Maui to $259 million, down
18 percent on the Big Island
to $130 million and down
18 percent on Kauai to $103
million. |
