The latest survey of visitor satisfaction showed that the number of tourists who rated their vacation to Hawai'i as "excellent" declined in the third quarter of 2007 when compared with the same period a year earlier.

Canada was the only market where more visitors rated their vacation as excellent, 68.4 percent, compared with 62.3 percent a year earlier, according to the Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Report released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The report was based on a survey of visitors conducted from July through September 2007.

The number of Japanese visitors who rated their vacation as excellent fell to 52.4 percent from 54.8 percent a year earlier. For visitors from the U.S. West, those who rated their vacation as excellent fell to 67.5 percent from 68.2 percent, while for visitors from the U.S. East, the percentage fell to 70.2 percent from 72.9 percent. The number of visitors from Europe who rated their vacation as excellent fell to 71.9 percent from 73.2 percent.

A total of 1,202 U.S. visitors responded to surveys mailed following visits to Hawai'i last year. The margin oferror for U.S. visitors was +/- 2.8 percent. The state also surveyed 847 Japanese visitors.

For the last year of complete statistics — 2006 — a majority of visitors from the U.S. West (88.4 percent), U.S. East (86.7 percent), Canada (84.8 percent) and Europe (76.1 percent) said they were very likely to recommend Hawai'i as a vacation place to their friends and family.