Cruise ship visitors to Hawaii are down 26% this year and fewer visitors overall arrived on the Big Island in May, according to June statistics from the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
But Big Island visitors who did come stayed longer, resulting in an overall 1.3% increase in visitor expenditures on the Big Island in May.
Aboard cruise ships, 74,291 visitors arrived statewide in the first five months of this year compared with 99,843 visitors during the first five months of 2013, a 25.6% decline in cruise ship visitors to the state through May. Nine fewer cruise ships visited Hawaii during the first five months of 2014, the HTA reported.
For just the month of May, however, the number of cruise ships increased from two to four, and passengers increased 5.2%, this year compared to May 2013, HTA said.
This comments section is a public community forum for the purpose of free expression. Although Big Island Now encourages respectful communication only, some content may be considered offensive. Please view at your own discretion. View Comments
