April was record-breaking month for Hawaii tourism

HONOLULU (AP) — Last month was record-breaking for Hawaii's tourism economy.

That's according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which released data Thursday showing visitor spending and arrivals surpassed record years for April, reaching $1.17 billion and nearly 650,000 visitors.

Tourism officials say it's the highest total expenditures on record for April, a typically slower month.

Contributing to the robust month were increases in airlift to Hawaii and a 10.4 percent increase in daily spending to 194 per person.

Japanese arrivals increased 36.2 percent to more than 86,600 visitors, but that's still well below the April 1997 record of 157,600. Spending by Japanese visitors surged 45.8 percent to $154 million.