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Visits to Maui declined in October by 4 percent to 142,956.

That was on top of the 20.5 percent decline in October 2008. Since peaking at just over 200,000 in 2006, October visits are down 25 percent.

For the year's first 10 months, Maui tourism is down 9.9 percent to nearly 1.6 million.

The numbers are compiled by the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. Statewide, visitors to the islands in October fell 1.7 percent to 505,676. For the year through October, tourism for the state is down 5.5 percent to 5.4 million, compared with the same period in 2008.

Mike McCartney, president of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, was able to find a silver lining.

"Growth in arrivals from the U.S. West continued to increase for the sixth consecutive month," as well as from Japan, two areas where the authority has been focusing its advertising, he said.

Most of that growth came from Alaska and Oregon, while only an incremental increase in tourists came from California.

Maui island benefited from the revival in the western states. Visits from that area rose 3.1 percent to 72,731, accounting for more than half of the island's tourism.

But Maui did not benefit from Japanese business, which was down 22 percent to just 4,164. Japanese business is a small fraction of Maui's visitor industry, only about 40 percent as big as Canadian business (although Canadians spend less).

Maui island actually drew slightly more Canadians in October than Oahu did (11,953 for Maui vs. 11,809 for Oahu).

The contrast is striking. Japan provides more than 30 percent of Oahu's visitors, and about 3 percent of Maui's.

Because international business did reasonably well, statewide arrivals were down only 1.7 percent in October, to 505,676. Air travel was just about flat, but cruise ship visits were down 39.7 percent, because several ships withdrew.

Oahu welcomed 316,361 visitors, up 0.1 percent. The other Neighbor Islands were down, Kauai by 1.8 percent to 73,616, and Hawaii by 4.6 percent to 92,753.

Maui County's smaller islands were way down, Molokai by 26.5 percent to 3,778 and Lanai by 30.6 percent to 4,383.

Per person per day spending in October on Maui was up 1.1 percent to $181, but surprisingly was exceeded on Kauai, which went up 20.3 percent to $187.80, and almost matched on Oahu, which reported an 11.2 percent drop to $180.40. Average daily visitor spending was $164.60, a 6.2 percent increase, on the Big Island.

Lanai is the most expensive island to visit, and its visitors spent an average of $320 a day, a 12 percent increase over October 2008. Molokai visitors spend only $113.60, a 5.2 percent drop from the same month a year earlier.

Not only are visitors coming in smaller numbers, the ones who do come are not staying long. The average length of stay in October on Maui was 8.06 days, and for Oahu only 6.72 days.

McCartney said Hawaii's hotel occupancy rate is good compared to other destinations. Hawaii trails only New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., which are business destinations, he said.

''This is an indicator that Hawaii continues to be a desirable destination and puts Hawaii in a favorable position for when the economy recovers,'' McCartney added.

October's statistics showed that the number of tourists from the West Coast and Japan rose by 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively, as compared to October 2008.

But the number of visitors last month from the East Coast, Canada and other locations were either stagnant or declined, compared to a year ago. There also were 40 percent fewer cruise ship passengers debarking in Hawaii in October.

* Harry Eagar can be reached at heagar@mauinews.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.