BUSINESS BRIEFS
Checks cards used more often
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The use of check cards, also known as debit cards, is growing in Hawai'i at the fastest rate of all 50 states, according to a report by Visa USA.
Check card use in the past year has risen 41 percent, with volume of spending reaching a state record $141 million, according to Visa. Most of the transactions, 41 percent, were in the retail sector. Tourism and entertainment accounted for 18 percent of the spending; restaurants, 13 percent; and petroleum products, 12 percent.
WAIPI'O NAMED TOURNAMENT SITE
Hawai'i has been selected to host the U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regionals in 2008 — an event that generated an estimated $10 million in economic benefits the last time it was held in the state.
When Hawai'i hosted the six-day tournament in 2003, nearly 8,000 players, coaches, managers, administrators, referees and family members visited Honolulu.
A major factor in the decision to award the tournament to Hawai'i was the city's Waipi'o Peninsula Soccer Park, which is considered one of the premier soccer facilities in the Far West Region, said Hawaii Youth Soccer Association President Scott Keo-puhiwa.
ANOTHER AIRLINE ADDED TO MIX
The debut of a new interisland airline has been delayed by the entry of another competitor, and a group of local investors has deciding against investing in the project.
FlyHawaii had planned to offer interisland service early next year, but then Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group announced plans last month also to begin interisland service.
FlyHawaii still plans to start flying later next year.
VACANCIES HURT FAIRMONT HOTELS
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. posted a 48 percent drop in quarterly profit and lowered its 2005 earnings forecast because of a decline in tourists to resorts in Bermuda and Mexico. The stock had its biggest fall in almost 2 1/2 years.
In July 2004, the company sold the Fairmont Kea Lani Maui hotel in Hawai'i to Host Marriott Corp. for $355 million.
