Spending up, visitors down in March

Visitor expenditures increased 4.4 percent to $1.1 billion in March, according to preliminary statistics released Monday by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Average daily spending was up to $180 per person in March compared to $175 during the same period last year. However, the number of visitors who arrived by air decreased slightly, 0.9 percent, to 653,852.

• Visitor arrivals from Canada are up 16.3 percent for the month.
• The number of Japanese arrivals in March decreased 11.9 percent, but those who came stayed longer and spent more money, spending an average of $287 per person per trip.
• Arrivals to Kauai and the Big Island in March were down more than 10 percent compared to March 2007. DBEDT attributed the decline to the withdrawal of interisland cruise ships.

These numbers do not reflect any changes in visitor arrivals affected by the shutdown of Aloha Airlines and ATA Airlines. Aloha shutdown its passenger operations March 31, and ATA discontinued service April 3.

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