�We anticipate that the additional $10 million approved for an emergency tourism marketing campaign by the special legislative session last month will help to stabilize our visitor industry,� said DBEDT Director Seiji Naya. �The campaign targets the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada, and the top three cities in Japan. It will highlight the healing and rejuvenation aspects of the Hawaii vacation experience and will focus on frequent fliers, families, seniors, veterans, the honeymoon/wedding market and meeting planners.� 

In addition, Naya noted that the $100 million extra appropriation for public construction projects and $36 million to improve security at airports, harbors and highways should help Hawaii�s construction industry. 

�It is important that we keep those who are currently employed in jobs,� he said. �At the same time, we can make up some of the backlog in repair and maintenance to our schools.� 
�Looking ahead, we should see an improvement in visitor numbers during December when the Honolulu Marathon is held. We are expecting roughly 24,000 participants, nearly the same as last year�s total, with about 9-10,000 of these coming from Japan and almost 8,000 from the U.S. Mainland.� 

Visitors Arriving on Domestic Flights 

Domestic visitor days, compiled from flights originating in U.S. cities, dropped 18.8 percent in October 2001 due to a 19.4 percent decrease in arrivals that was slightly offset by a longer length of stay (up 0.7% to 9.91 days). Year-to-date domestic visitor days fell 4.4 percent from the same period last year. 

The U.S. market, which comprised 90 percent of all domestic visitors, declined 16.1 percent with all U.S. regions posting lower arrivals for the month. Year-to-date arrivals from the U.S. mainland were 3.0 percent lower compared to the same period a year ago, but California, the primary domestic market, still reported a 1.0 percent growth. 

Domestic visitations to all islands were lower than last October�s totals. Year-to-date, island visitations decreased for Maui (-7.9%), Lanai (-6.5%), the Big Island (-6.1%), Kauai (-5.2%), Molokai (-4.9%) and Oahu (-3.4%). 

Year-to-date, the number of MCI travelers (-25.4%), honeymooners (-9.2%) and vacationers (-2.0%) decreased when compared to the same period last year. Repeat visitors grew 1.0 percentage points over last October to 63.2 percent of all domestic visitors to the islands. 
�The data for October support the marketing campaign being pursued by the HVCB,� said Naya. �Our repeat visitors, especially Californians, have been our major source of visitors.� 

Visitors Arriving on International Flights 

International visitor days, compiled from flights originating outside the U.S., plummeted 45.7 percent during October due to a 50.3 percent drop in arrivals. The average length of stay rose 9.4 percent to 6.71 days. 

All islands, except for Molokai, experienced double-digit declines compared to October of last year. Molokai and Lanai, which experienced remarkable arrival growth during the first eight months of this year, still registered very strong year-to-date growths of 123.7 percent and 24.6 percent, respectively. 

Year-to-date, the number of MCI travelers (-23.7%), vacationers (-7.9%) and honeymooners (-6.6%) declined from the same time last year. Repeat visitors represented 48.0 percent of all international visitors during the month, up from 43.4 percent during the previous October. 

Island Highlights 

Compared to October 2000, domestic visitors stayed the longest on Oahu at 7.20 days (+2.3%), followed by visitors to Maui at 6.83 days (-2.5%), the Big Island at 6.74 days (-2.2%), Kauai at 5.92 days (-4.9%), Molokai at 4.21 days (-3.8%) and Lanai at 4.05 days (+7.4%). 

International visitors stayed the longest on Oahu at 5.98 days (+14.5%), Molokai at 5.43 days (+66.4%), Maui at 4.67 days (+6.8%), the Big Island at 3.56 days (-6.9%), Kauai at 2.48 days (-8.5%) and Lanai at 2.19 days (-18.2%). 

Visitor Characteristics 

The number of visitors in the islands for MCI travel (-42.3%), for vacation (-29.2%) and to honeymoon (-33.8%) declined significantly compared to last October. Year-to-date, the number of vacationers (-4.2%), honeymooners (-7.8%) and MCI travelers (-25.0%) declined from the same period last year. 

Hotels continued to be the primary choice for lodging, accommodating 66 percent of all visitors in October, but the number of visitors staying in hotels fell 36.1 percent during the month. Visitors staying in condominiums (-29.0%), with friends and relatives (-6.6%) and in bed & breakfast properties (-19.4%) also declined, however, the number of visitors staying on cruise ships (+24.3%) and in timeshare units (+2.8%) increased over the previous October. 
Repeat visitors to Hawaii rose to 59.4 percent of total visitors for the month compared to 55.5 percent in October 2000. 

Cruise Ship Visitors 

Visitors arriving by air to board cruise ships rose 24.3 percent in October 2001 to 18,939 passengers reflecting the addition of the Patriot which joined the inter-island cruise market at the end of 2000. On October 20, 2001, the Patriot and its sister ship the Independence have ceased their operations in Hawaii. However, their absence is to be filled by the 2,500-passenger vessel Norwegian Star, which is scheduled to commence inter-island voyages in mid-December 2001. 

There were eight foreign cruise ships touring the islands during the month which brought 12,563 passengers to the islands compared to seven ships and 10,972 passengers during last October. Year-to-date, visitor days of foreign cruise passengers are 3.0 percent over the same period last year. 

U.S. West Visitors 

Visitor days from the U.S. West market were off 13.5 percent as a result of lower arrivals (-12.9%) and a shorter length of stay (-0.6% to 9.61 days). 

A total of 164,674 U.S. West visitors came to the islands during the month, 74.6 percent of whom were repeat visitors, down from the 75.9 percent of last October. 

Year-to-date, visitor days and arrivals have declined 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. More U.S. West visitors came for vacation (+1.0%) while visitors coming for honeymoons (-8.5%) and MCI travels (-19.8%) have fallen. 

Molokai reported increased arrivals (+5.8%) from the U.S. West during October that contributed to the 3.3 percent growth for this island year-to-date. Visitations on Oahu (+0.1%) and Lanai (0%) on a year-to-date basis remained stable compared to the same period a year ago. 

U.S. East Visitors 

Lower visitor arrivals (-21.6%) from the U.S. East were offset by a slightly longer length of stay (+0.8% to 9.87 days) resulting in a 21.0 percent drop in visitor days for October 2001. Year-to-date visitor days declined 4.5 percent over the same period last year. 

Of the 106,727 visitors from the U.S. East, 48 percent were repeat visitors to Hawaii, up slightly from 47.9 percent during the previous October. 

Year-to-date, 0.6 percent more U.S. East visitors came to vacation, but fewer were here for MCI travel (-29.4%) and to honeymoon (-7.6%). Single-island visitations to Molokai (+13.3%) and Oahu (+3.6%) on a year-to-date basis were higher than the same period last year. 

Japanese Visitors 

Japanese visitor days during October decreased 41.8 percent due to a 54.1 percent drop in visitor arrivals which offset a longer average length of stay (up from 5.29 to 6.70 days). A total of 67,440 Japanese visitors came to the islands during the month.  Of these, 48.9 percent were repeat visitors, up from 42.4 percent during the previous October. Year-to-date visitor days fell 4.4 percent from same period last year. 

About 92 percent of all Japanese visitors chose hotels for their accommodation during the month. However, the number of Japanese visitors who stayed in hotels (-55.1%), on cruise ships (-70.1%) and condominiums (-44.6%) decreased while those who stayed with friends and relatives (+152.7%) and in timeshare properties (+42.7%) increased over last October. 
Year-to-date, Molokai (+315.7%), Lanai (+109.6%) and Kauai (+2.6%) continue to report increased arrivals from Japanese visitors when compared to the same period last year. 

Canadian Visitors 

Canadian visitor days plunged 63.2 percent in October due to a 52.5 percent decline in arrivals and a shorter length of stay (-22.5% to 9.34 days). Of the total 8,200 Canadian visitors who came to the islands during the month, 47.7 percent were first time visitors, up slightly from the 46.9 percent of the previous October. Year-to-date Canadian visitor days and visitor arrivals decreased by 1.6 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively. 

Year-to-date, Oahu (+13.6%) and the Big Island (+6.0%) continue to report higher visitor arrivals from the Canadian segment when compared to last year.