Hawaii visitors spent $1.4 billion in March 2017, a 12.3% jump compared with March 2016, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Visitors from Japan led the charge, spending $187.2 million on the islands, a 20.8% increase year-over-year. The boost in visitor spending is supported by increases in total visitor days, average length of stay and daily spending per person.
Spending and arrivals by visitors from Japan have grown during the first three months of 2017 due to increased air service to Honolulu and the launch of direct service to Kona from Haneda in December 2016, according to the tourism authority.
Visitor arrivals to Hawaii increased 2% in March 2017, again supported by a 9% increase in visitation from Japan. While air arrivals saw a 1.7% bump compared to March 2016, cruise ships brought 47.4% more visitors to the islands in March 2017. The spike is attributed to larger-capacity cruise ships visiting the islands, with five out-of-state ships bringing 10,131 visitors in March 2017, compared to five ships transporting 6,874 passengers in March 2016.
Among the individual islands, Hawaii Island saw a boost thanks to more direct air service from the U.S. and Japan. The island benefited from a 25% spike in visitor spending, with double-digit bumps in visitors from the U.S. West and U.S. East, Japan and Canada contributing to the increase.