The tourism numbers for Hawaii continue to sizzle in the summer, with visitor spending up 10% in July year over year, according to data released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Arrivals were up 6.8% for the month, for a total of 891,878 visitors. Travelers from the U.S. East helped drive the increased spending, with a 22% boost over the same period last year. There was also an 11% increase in arrivals from the U.S. East, spurred in part by new air routes from Dallas and Minneapolis, according to the HTA.
Continuing a pattern for 2017, arrivals and spending from Japan are also up for the month, 7% and 5.5% respectively. Canada bucked the trend, however, with visitors from the country spending 11% less in July 2017 than they did a year ago.
While the Japanese market has shown considerable growth this year for Hawaii, another trend has also emerged. Condominium and timeshare use has steadily increased. In July there was a 25% increase in Japanese visitors staying in timeshares or condominiums compared to 2016, the third straight month the HTA has recorded a double-digit increase.
Year to date, visitor spending in Hawaii is up 9%, to $9.95 billion, and arrivals have increased 5%, to 5.5 million, compared to the first seven months of 2016.