Hawaii Tourism AuthorityStatement by George D. Szigeti RE: Hawaii’s Visitor Statistics Results for J

George D. Szigeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA), issued the following comments on Hawaii's visitor statistics results for the month of July and year-to-date.

"Hawaii's tourism industry statewide realized another robust month in July, highlighted by establishing new record high monthly totals of 939,360 visitor arrivals and 1.2 million air seats serving the state on trans-Pacific flights. These totals speak to the strong travel demand that Hawaii's brand continues to command and the confidence that airlines have in serving the Hawaiian Islands.

"Year-to-date, Hawaii has reached nearly $11-billion in visitor spending and attracted almost six million visitors after just seven months, both of which are well ahead of last year's record-setting pace. Tourism's benefits are reflected in the businesses supported locally and the jobs created for residents. Government continues to benefit as well from tourism's success, as $1.28 billion in state tax revenue has been generated, which is nearly 10 percent and $114 million more than last year at this time.

"Hawaii's four island counties all continued to produce positive results in visitor spending and arrivals through the first seven months of 2018. The island of Hawaii, however, reported declines in both visitor spending and arrivals for the second straight month, due to the dampening effect that the Kīlauea volcano eruption has had on travel bookings to that island.

"We are confident HTA's release of more than $2-million in emergency funding to support targeted marketing programs by Hawaii Tourism United States and Hawaii Tourism Japan promoting travel to the island of Hawaii will help reverse this downward trend. We anticipate seeing the pace of bookings for the island of Hawaii to again rise and become more in line with what is being reported by Oahu, Maui County and Kauai.

"Mahalo to all of Hawaii's tourism professionals statewide, especially those working on the front line, for your invaluable contribution to the continuing success of the Hawaiian Islands and the joy that visitors experience when coming here to vacation."