LIHU‘E — Visitor arrivals on Kaua‘i dropped in April, but not by much. The drop was “relatively small” at a little more than 1 percent, said Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau Executive Director Sue Kanoho. “With the most recent trend of closer,
LIHU‘E — Visitor arrivals on Kaua‘i dropped in April, but not by much.
The drop was “relatively small” at a little more than 1 percent, said Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau Executive Director Sue Kanoho.
“With the most recent trend of closer, faster, cheaper travel, Kaua‘i was not necessarily the first choice,” she said.
Traveling to the island is too expensive, said visitor Kathy Deutsch.
Airfare from Missouri to Lihu‘e last month was around $1,900 for two round-trip tickets, she said. Top that with a $160-per-night condo and a car rental, and Deutsch said she is unable to visit as often as she would like.
“We are not rich,” Deutsch said. “If we could reduce the cost of just one of these things, we would be spending more time on Kaua‘i.”
And interisland travel is not much better, as tickets from Honolulu to Lihu‘e alone cost some $120 dollars round-trip through April 2011, which is the last month available to book online, according to Hawaiian Airline’s website Sunday.
In addition, there are added fees, such as $25 for the first checked bag and $35 for the second when traveling from the Mainland to Hawai‘i. Interisland fees are $10 for the first bag and $17 for the second, according to the website.
But Deutsch’s family adores the island so much, “as soon as we deplane here in Missouri, we are figuring out how to go back,” she wrote in an e-mail.
“Fortunately, there are many who love what Kaua‘i is about and continue to come back again and again,” Kanoho said.
However, many more seem to be choosing Maui as their destination these days, as the Valley Isle experienced the greatest increase in the state, a bump of 3 percent in arrivals compared to the April 2009 total, according to statistics from Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. Maui also grew in arrivals by 14 percent in March and more than 7 percent in February.
“Maui is an animal unto itself,” Kanoho said. “They have developed a brand that is recognized worldwide and spend triple KVB’s budget in their marketing efforts.”
In addition, Maui has around 100,000 more airline seats than Kaua‘i each month, she said. Lihu‘e has almost 40,000 total monthly seats.
Comparatively, O‘ahu — where visitor arrivals fell 2.5 percent — has almost 530,000 seats each month.
Due to the island’s location “in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, tourism on Kaua‘i can be affected by global issues,” Kanoho said. “I do believe tourism is evolving, and that we often need to readjust our rung on the ladder.”
For example, when the Japanese market “declined so drastically” on O‘ahu, it was “severely impacted,” she said. Businesses had to “readjust to the new world without the large amount of Japanese arrivals.”
On the other hand, in April, Maui “saw very-strong growth in visitor arrivals from Japan” of more than 75 percent, according to HTA. Japanese arrivals on Kaua‘i decreased more than 23 percent.
Visitors from Canada, however, rose by more than 26 percent on island in April during a time when direct flights from Vancouver were still in operation, according to the HTA. The WestJet service to Lihu‘e has since ceased, but will resume in winter 2010-11, Kanoho said.
Though Canadian arrivals could fluctuate before WestJet establishes service again, the visitor industry is experiencing signs of recovery, Kanoho said.
In fact, visitor spending on Kaua‘i is up more than 14 percent, according to HTA.
“Tourism is cyclical,” she said. “It took Kaua‘i almost 10 years to recover after Hurricane ‘Iniki, and that was when the national economy was strong.”
And whether or not people are proponents of the industry, “tourism continues to be the cornerstone of our island economy,” she said.
“I want Kaua‘i to prosper, for the people who live there full-time,” Deutsch said. “The locals make life easy for the visitors like me.”
Her family always “walks as softly as we can on the ‘aina,” and patronizes as many local establishments as possible when they visit, she said.
The results of the first phase of the $1 million KVB and county Office of Economic Development visitor-industry-stimulus plan will be discussed during the County Council meeting at 9 a.m. June 2.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
