Fewer tourists coming to Hawaii!

[ericlp]

http://hawaiitribune-herald.com/news/loc...r-arrivals

Big Island sees 7.4 percent drop in visitor arrivals.

Among the islands, Lanai saw the biggest drop in visitor arrivals in February, down 16.8 percent. Arrivals dropped 7.4 percent on the Big Island, 8.5 percent on Kauai and 2.9 percent on Maui. Molokai was the only island to see an increase, with February visitors up 11.5 percent to more than 4,700.

Spending dropped across the islands except on Kauai, where spending was flat, and the Big Island, where spending jumped 11.5 percent to $182 million.

Interesting to note the jump in spending on the big island? Why would that be? I wonder if the new telescope going in has anything to do with it?

[VancouverIslander]

I still get flights from Canada from 470 return. I don't think the drop in tourism (and statistics from one month are not a trend) if there is one is from that. Use google to find the best rates and be flexible on the dates. google.com/flights is your friend. Booking way ahead is your friend - the first seats sold are cheap and then they ramp up as the plane fills up.

edit: ok, prices are up. I just got back to the mainland and since I booked my last flight (booked three months ago) things *have* gone up about $100 or so. Although if I look for one way tickets I can still find a few days with sub 200 one way from West Jet from Vancouver.

[Guest]

I wonder if the big islands jump in spending has anything to do with the recent charges of our beaches and parks?. Hapuna charges $5.00 and some parks charge $3.00 also. Seems that the hotels in Kona are charging more, also less Kama'aina specials for us residents. Maybe some of this new revenue will trickle down to our local schools, The kids in these small schools are falling further behind nationally due to a lack of EVERYTHING.?

[Bullwinkle]

west jet is the only discount carrier into the islands .... ironically the canadians the lowest spenders as well at 160 per day

[pahoated]

When it comes to Hawaii, costs are almost totally based on a foundation of oil. There are all kinds of smoke screens being thrown up to draw attention away from the price of oil affecting everything on these islands.
http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/?iid=C_MT_Index
Oil briefly flirted with $105 per barrel a few months ago. It went down a bit for a short while but is starting the climb back up to $105 per barrel. Believing Hawaii is somehow getting cutrates for oil from Indonesia is another pipe dream. Oil is never going to go much below $100 per barrel for the next few years, then it will steadily skyrocket from there. Shale oil needs to be priced at $100 per barrel to be profitable. Projections are that US shale oil supplies will be depleted in about 6 years.

Transportation is dominated by oil for cars, trucks and jets. If oil goes up, transportation cost goes up. If the cost of transportation goes up, the cost of food goes up. Hawaii has a dream of self sustainability and Hawaii island has the potential. However, the reality today is like a $1000 a day heroin addict worrying about what he is going to invest his lottery fortune in if he ever wins. The addiction has to be admitted to first, then the dependency has to be kicked before self sufficiency can even enter the conversation.

Being another unfortunate person that has had to return to the mainland, it is a shock to go into the grocery store and see bananas for 69 cents per pound, strawberries 2 pounds for $3, grapes for $2.99 per pound, the fish is all fresh on the Oregon coast - not previously frozen.
http://weeklyspecials.safeway.com/customer_Frame.jsp?drpStoreID=2790&showFlash=false
These things cost twice as much in Hawaii due to the shipping and refrigeration. With the way things are going, self sufficiency and sustainability will be like distant fairy tales compared to what the prices will be if Hawaii cannot wean itself off oil dependency.

"This island Hawaii on this island Earth"

[VancouverIslander]

quote:

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Originally posted by Bullwinkle

west jet is the only discount carrier into the islands .... ironically the canadians the lowest spenders as well at 160 per day

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Sorry, BW, it's probably my fault as I don't spend much when I come. As long as I get a poke bowl a day that's all I need.

Alaska airlines also flies to the big island. Got a good deal from them my last flight over.

[Bullwinkle]

grin - same here ..... a little poke some fruit - next thing one knows we are full time on this side of the lake....... west jet envy? - grin

[OpenD]

Don't forget Allegiant Air. They're seasonal, and they fly from 2nd-tier airports, and I personally don't care for their policies or their bad customer care reputation, but they do have lower fares than anybody else.