Attendance Picks Up For Hawaii Meetings and Conventions

Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 10/10/2005

If the results for the first seven months of 2005 are any indication, Hawaii should have a better year than 2004 when it comes to drawing attendees to meetings and conventions, according to pre-audit statistics.

Hawaii State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert said Hawaii drew 380,850 visitors to meetings, conventions and incentives between January and July of this year. The number represents a 15.4-percent increase over the same period in 2004. Of the 2005 visitors so far, 231,335 attended conventions and 67,735 corporate meetings.

"I believe the increases are because of economic changes in the United States and our second-largest market, Japan, and nationwide trends for more corporate meetings and conventions, especially offshore," Wienert said.

Hawaii experienced a downturn in meeting and convention attendance in 2004. According to its annual visitor research report, in 2004 Hawaii welcomed 458,754 meeting and convention visitors, a 3.1-percent decrease from 2003. However, the report noted big increases in leisure business.