PHOTO: Hawaii's Papakolea Beach. (photo courtesy of Thinkstock)
Hawaii's tourism industry is off to another strong start in 2016.
Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) revealed Thursday that the Aloha State achieved record numbers of visitors and spending during the first two quarters of 2016.
The 4.4 million visitors and $7.7 billion in spending represent all-time highs for the state.
What's more, the record figures also led to a record $820.7 million in state tax revenue over the course of the first two quarters of 2016.
"We are especially heartened by these results through the first half of the year, as our two largest tourism markets, U.S. West and U.S. East, carried the bulk of Hawaii's success, bolstered by the new international markets that HTA has been working hard to develop," said HTA president and CEO George D. Szigeti Szigeti in a statement.
Visitors from Hawaii's all-important U.S. West market increased by 5.4 percent.
"Hawaii also had strong results for the month of June, infusing us with confidence that the peak summer travel season will prove to be very fruitful," added Szigeti.
Visitor arrivals for June 2016 rose 4.2 percent to 800,263, while spending jumped 4.3 percent to $1.4 billion. With July's visitor and spending figures yet to be tabulated and plenty of summer left to go, Hawaii appears poised to set more records before 2016 is up.
"Hawaii continues to do well as a global travel destination and it's primarily due to the world's admiration for our beloved Hawaiian culture and the aloha spirit embracing all who come to these islands," added Szigeti.
"Mahalo to all of our industry stakeholders for doing their part every day to make the Hawaiian Islands such a sensational travel experience."
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