Visitor arrivals and spending were up for Maui island for the month of July while yearly spending remains lower, according to a recent report from Hawaii Tourism Authority. Meanwhile, the island of Lanai saw a roughly 40 percent gain in total spending compared with the same month last year.

Total spending rose for Maui island in the month of July, increasing 4.3 percent to $502.4 million compared with last year. Overall, though, total expenditures are down for Maui this year, dropping 0.9 percent from last year to about $3,109 million.

Tourist arrivals by air for Maui island rose 4.8 percent to 309,134 for last month, compared with the same timeframe one year ago.

The average length of stay decreased statewide for most islands in July, with Maui dropping 2.4 percent to 7.68 days, Molokai dropping 24.3 percent to 3.3 days and Lanai falling 24.5 percent to 2.62 days. So far this year, all islands have seen an overall decrease in average length of stay compared with 2018.

Per person per day spending was up by 2.1 percent to $211.6 for Maui in July, compared with the same month last year. In year to date data, though, Maui saw a decrease of 3.1 percent to $212.9 compared with 2018. Per person per trip spending last month dropped 0.4 percent to $1,625.

Lanai saw a major increase in July spending this year, up 40.6 percent to $12.1 million. Molokai also ticked up 1.5 percent to $3 million. The spending represents visitors arriving by air.

Visitors coming to Molokai via air increased 35.4 percent to 7,644 in July. Lanai shot up 62.4 percent to 10,148 in July. In a year to date comparison against 2018, Molokai rose 7.2 percent to 38,757 and Lanai increased 16.2 percent to 52,793.

Looking at statewide data, visitors to the Hawaiian Islands spent $1.7 billion in July, an increase of 2.4 percent compared to the same month last year. However, average daily visitor spending was down by 2.7 percent to $190 per person in July year-over-year. Visitors from the U.S. East spent more per day, while visitors from the U.S. West, Japan, Canada and all other international markets spent less.

Total visitor arrivals rose 6.2 percent to 997,872 visitors in July with all traveling via air. Total visitor days increased 5.2 percent. The number of visitors on any given day in July was up 5.2 percent to 289,236 compared with the same month last year.

HTA is the state agency responsible for strategically managing its support of the tourism industry. For information or to view the latest report, visit www.hawaiitourismauthority.org.

* Kehaulani Cerizo can be reached at kcerizo@mauinews.com.