Visitor arrivals and spending rose in April, helped by an influx in tourists from Canada, China and Korea, the Hawaii Tourism Authority reported today.

The state welcomed 552,059 visitors during the month, up 1.9 percent from April 2009. It was the fifth straight monthly increase in visitor arrivals.

Those arriving by air spent $760.2 million, a 0.5 percent increase from a year earlier.

"It is clear that tourism in Hawaii continues to improve," state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said in a statement. "This is very encouraging for businesses and residents in our state as our overall economy begins to recover," she said.

For the first four months of the year visitor arrivals stood at 2.2 million, up 3.6 percent from the same period in 2009. The amount spent by those arriving by air totaled $3.5 billion, up 4 percent from 2009.