The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) projected better-than-expected visitor-industry growth in a recently released report on the fourth quarter, revising earlier expectations for both visitor arrivals and spending.
The department slightly increased its total visitor arrivals forecast for 2012 to 8 million travelers, up .8% from its Q3 report, and it raised its visitor-spending estimate for the year to $14.5 billion, up 3.6% from the earlier projection.
“We remain cautiously optimistic with regard to the state’s immediate economic future,” DBEDT director, Richard Lim, said in a statement. “Despite political uncertainties often inherent in election cycles and recent natural disasters, the visitor industry is projected to remain strong.”
The Islands welcomed 7.3 million visitors in 2011 and generated $12.25 billion in visitor spending.
DBEDT is now forecasting 8.3 million visitors will travel to Hawaii in 2013 and spend $15.3 billion.