Tourism industry sees double-digit increases

     Maui's tourism industry ended a strong summer with double-digit increases in visitor arrivals and spending in August, according to new data released Thursday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
The island saw a 10 percent increase in visitor arrivals last month to 204,026. Those visitors spent a total of $281 million in August, representing a more than 14 percent boost over last year.
Meanwhile, per person daily spending was up nearly 6 percent to $187 for the month.
Year to date, total visitor spending on Maui is up 20.5 percent to $2.5 billion, compared to the same time frame last year.
Maui saw increased arrivals last month from the Mainland East Coast - up 11 percent - and the West Coast - up 9 percent in August. Those gains helped offset slightly lower arrivals from Canada - off nearly 3 percent for the month - and from Japan - down by 1.5 percent compared to August 2011.
Year to date, Maui has seen 1.6 million total arrivals, a 6 percent increase over last year. Of those visitors, six out of 10 stayed exclusively on Maui, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Tourism officials say the upcoming fall travel season is typically slower, but they anticipate the strong growth seen so far this year to continue with additional air service to Hawaii from the Mainland, Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.
"In addition, Maui will host festivals and events, which will help to draw visitors to our Hawaiian Islands including the Lahaina Plantation Days, XTERRA World Championships and the Wailea Wine & Food Festival," Hawaii Tourism Authority President and Chief Executive Officer Mike McCartney said in a statement.
Arrivals last month were up across the six main islands.
The state as a whole saw visitor expenditures increase nearly 15 percent last month to $1.19 billion. Total arrivals to Hawaii were up 11 percent to 725,642 visitors in August.
Year to date, Hawaii has seen 5.4 million visitors and total expenditures of $9.6 billion.