Hawai'i's visitor arrivals plummeted last month — again — with a 17.3 percent decline in visitor arrivals by air to 606,342 visitors, according to state statistics released this morning.

And the worst news came from a traditionally strong source of Hawai'i visitors — U.S. West — which posted its biggest decline on record, down 24.2 percent, according to the August report by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Total visitor days for air and cruise visitors in August 2008 fell 15.2 percent compared to the same month last year. Total arrivals by air and cruise visitors fell 17.4 percent from August 2007.

And spending was down, too. For the month of August 2008, total air visitor expenditures dropped 17.6 percent or $206.9 million, from the same month last year, to $970.7 million. The decrease was caused by lower daily spending (-3.1 percent to $174 per person) and a 17.3 percent decline in visitor arrivals by air to 606,342 visitors.

Arrivals from the U.S. East declined 16.5 percent and Japan dropped 13.9 percent) from the same month last year.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from Canada — a growing but still small market — rose 8.5 percent compared to August 2007.

"Hawai'i's visitor industry is feeling the effects of the continued softness in the national economy," said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert.

"The performance of Hawai'i's summer season exemplifies the volatility of the visitor industry on uncontrollable outside factors. Rising fuel prices, the loss of two Norwegian Cruise ships and a decrease decrease in international cruise ship visits, the mortgage crisis and consumer confidence have all played a part in tourism's decline," Wienert said.

For the first eight months of the year, spending by visitors who arrived by air declined 8.7 percent to $7.8 billion.

However the average length of stay by these visitors was slightly longer at 9.19 days, compared to 8.96 days last August.

Year-to-date, arrivals by air totaled 4,719,334 visitors, 8 percent lower compared to the same period last year. The average daily spending decreased to $176 per person compared to $179 per person in the first eight months of 2007.

More 2008 Visitor Research Data can be viewed at: www.hawaii.gov/dbedt