Any suggestion that a so-called ‘Trump slump’ is affecting travel to America (which is debatable) vanishes when you look at results from Hawai‘i. The destination is attracting strong visitor growth from Australia, spectacular growth from New Zealand, and steady growth from everywhere else.
The Australian travel industry has been learning the extent of this, and catching up with the product developments Hawai‘i has to offer from the Aloha Down Under Hawai‘i team touring Australia and New Zealand. The popular workshops visited Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Parramatta, heading off to New Zealand at the weekend.
At the Aloha Down Under media lunch at STUDIO Sydney Tower on Friday, attendees networked with 23 Hawai‘i product partners and caught up on the latest destination updates from the Hawai‘i Tourism Oceania team.
The Hawaii team at STUDIO Sydney Tower on Friday
Hawai‘i Tourism Oceania country manager Australia, Giselle Radulovic, said Australian visitation to Hawai’i was on track to break the 200,000 barrier. Visitor numbers had reached 154,502 in the year to date, with an average stay of 9.53 days, which is 9.3% longer than a year ago.
So more Australians are visiting and they are staying longer.
There’s plenty to see in Hawai‘i. If you haven’t been, here’s a taste of the Hawaiian Islands in just 34 seconds!
Hawai‘i welcomed 31,352 visitors from Australia in May, up 3.3% from a year ago. Through the first five months of 2018, arrivals also increased (+3.8% to 126,018 visitors) compared to the same period last year.
Visits from New Zealand have gone through the roof! Supported by increased air services, Kiwi visitor arrivals rose strongly in May (+47.7% to 8152) and year-to-date (+42.7% to 28,484) versus a year ago.
Bishop Museum director of sales and events, Amber Bixel
Scheduled air seats to Hawai‘i from Oceania rose in May (+18.8%) compared to a year ago, boosted by the addition of more seats from Auckland (+63.3%). Total seats from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, Australia also increased, by +7.8%.
Visitors to the Hawai‘ian Islands spent a total of USD 1.42 billion in May 2018, an increase of 11% compared to last year, according to preliminary statistics released by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA).
Hawaiian entertainment on Friday
A total of slightly over 1 million trans-Pacific air seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands in the month of May, up 12.6% from a year ago with growth in air seat capacity from Oceania (+18.8%), US West (+15.6%), US East (+14%), Japan (+2.6%) and Other Asia (+0.6%).
Disney Destinations International promotions and PR manager, Tory Martin
Participants in Aloha Down Under 2018 included: Air New Zealand (Aloha Down Under in NZ only), Ala Moana, Aqua Aston Hospitality, Aulani Disney Resort & Spa, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Courtyard by Marriott Oahu North Shore, Darmic at the Aikiki Banyan ((Aloha Down Under in NZ only), Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiian Hotels & Resorts, Highgate, Hyatt Centric Waikiki Beach (Aloha Down Under in Australia only), World of Hyatt, Venture Card, Ka’anapali Beach Hotel, KapohoKine Adventures, Kuala Private Nature Reserve, Marriott International, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, Polynesian Cultural Centre, Prince Resorts Hawaii, Queen Kapiolani Hotel Wiakiki Beach, Shoreline Hotel Waikiki, Coconut Waikiki Hotel, The Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach (Aloha Down Under in Australia only), and Turtle Bay (Aloha Down Under in Australia only).
Written by Peter Needham
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