Hawaii tourism economy ahead by US$2 billion

Hawaii’s tourism economy is on pace for a record-breaking year with a total of US$12.9 billion in visitor expenditures through November. That’s US$2.1 billion more than the same period last year. Every day for the first 11 months of the year, visitors who came to the Hawaiian Islands by air spent $193, which is $16 more per day than last year. Continued efforts by the Hawaii Tourism Authority to increase airlift and distribution throughout the state have led to the incremental growth in visitor arrivals and expenditures across the four major islands, said Mike McCartney, president of the HTA. “In July, the HTA board of directors approved aggressive targets to reach 7.89 million visitors and US$13.9 billion in expenditures,”said McCartney. “At the current pace, we anticipate reaching, if not exceeding these targets.”He said there has been tremendous growth from the Asia and Oceania regions, as a result of numerous new flights\ and increases in flight frequency in 2012, with more expected in 2013. (http://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org)