According to new reports from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the numbers are looking good in terms of tourism. The country saw an increase in the number of visitors who arrived on the islands in January, with an overall rise of just over 4.1%. Additionally, records show that visitors are spending 8.3% cent more than they were last year at this time.
Hawaii continues to be one of the largest tourism draws in the country with some 597,126 visitors in the month of January.
California visitor numbers dropped to the tune of 4.4%. But the US West helped provide a rise by increasing their visitors to Hawaii by 3.9%. Additionally, the US East was up to 2.2% and Canadians arrivals rose by 27.7%, which marks six straight months of increase.
Yet businesses seem to be struggling. The state saw a drop in commercial property to a four year low. This is being blamed on worries that the US economy would face recession or an economic slowdown. Also hindering investment here was the tightening of the capital markets. This makes it very difficult for would be investors to purchase hotels, property, and shopping centres which continue to be important foreign and national property investment opportunities.
