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Most Aussies still book Hawaii through their Travel Agent

Travel Agents remain the number one way for Aussies and Kiwis to book their trip to Hawaii with almost 60% turning to an Agent to plan their Aloha getaway.

Travel Agents remain the number one way for Aussies and Kiwis to book their trip to Hawaii with almost 60% turning to an Agent to plan their Aloha getaway.

The popularity of Travel Agents was revealed as part of new statistics gathered by the Hawai’i Tourism Authority and relayed to key travel industry figures at a special Hawai’i Tourism Oceania update on Friday.

“For this reason Travel Agent destination training is really important to us,” Senior Marketing Manager at Hawai’i Tourism Oceania Charis Ricafuent said during her presentation on Friday.
 
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Charis Ricafuent.

She also pointed to a host of “exciting famils” planned for this year including a mega famil. Nice.

When it comes to Hawaii visitor trends, it turns out that Australian and New Zealand travellers are choosing to stay longer in Hawaii and visit more islands. 

Length of stay was up 0.8 percent in 2017 to 9.65 nights.

Sightseers are venturing beyond Oahu, with neighbour island visitation growing 3% during 2017.

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 The Island of Hawaii and Kauai saw a 13.7% and 10% spike in visitors respectively.

Separate research into Hawai’i visitors’ travel preferences by Roy Morgan revealed that romantic getaways have overtaken family holidays as the primary travel group visiting Hawaii.

Multi-generation family groups are also gaining momentum as a leading travel demographic to the Hawaiian Islands.

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Hawaii has also seen a 2.6% increase in visitation from the 25-34 year old age group, meaning that the destination is becoming more popular in the millennial market

Senior Marketing Manager at Hawai’i Tourism Oceania Charis Ricafuent said while Hawaii has always drawn drawn people in by its famous persona of sun, sand, surf and aloha – there are more experiences they are looking to promote this year. 

“With a mature market like Australia we also want to promote other experiences that are unique to Hawaii as well like watching the lava flow on a boat tour on Hawaii Island, a helicopter ride to get an ariel view of Kauai’s Na Pali Coast or experiencing Hawaiian culture during a luau in Maui so that adventure, nature, cuisine and aloha that’s really what we want to share with our travellers.”

Senior Marketing Manager at Hawai’i Tourism Oceania Charis Ricafuent.

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And finally, a one time visit to Hawaii doesn’t seem to be enough for many travellers, with 48.7% of visitors in Hawaii for at least the second time.

READ: MOVERS & SHAKERS: Meet newbies at HawaiiTourism Oceania, Hilton & Cruiseco

READ: Hawaii creates Sustainable Tourism Stamp to change industry culture

Which Hawaii islands are your customers loving right now?