Tourism officials hoping to build new business from developing international markets found some encouraging news in visitor arrivals to Hawai'i from Australia/New Zealand, and Asia excluding Japan for the first half of this year. The state just released preliminary statistics reflecting the January-June 2007 developing international market visitor arrivals.

State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert noted that the numbers show an increase in arrivals from Australia of about 15 percent, with more than 66,000 visitors from Down Under traveling to Hawai'i. In Asia markets outside of Japan, Hawai'i saw increases from both Korea and China of 7.3 percent and 1.6 percent respectively, with more than 21,000 visitors each.

Developing international markets are defined as Oceania, Europe, Other Asia and Latin America. Oceania comprises Australia and New Zealand; Europe consists of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland; Other Asia includes Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore; and Latin America consists of Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

Overall European arrivals slipped 1.7 percent, with declines in visitors from Germany, the U.K. and Switzerland more than offsetting increases from Italy and France.

Halekulani Corp. chief operating officer Peter Shaindlin said his Waikiki hotel has been looking ahead to build new markets while continuing to stress longtime favorites like Japan and the Mainland U.S. "Hotels need to develop emerging markets for the long-term globally," Shaindlin said. "I think the mistake is to take a reactive stance; it's a short-term fix."

He said it's tempting for Hawai'i tourism officials to focus entirely on Asia and North America because 90 percent of visitor business comes from there. Shaindlin said his company recently hired a public-relations company in London to focus on Western Europe.

He said both Australia and Europe have strong currency against the U.S. dollar, which makes Hawai'i a bargain for their tourists. "The euro is just killing the dollar," he said.

Wienert also is looking to be ready for more visitors from Korea and China as visa restrictions are expected to ease over the next two years.

"With any kind of business, you like to have a wide range of a customer base," she said.

Wienert said Oceania offers a steadily increasing market. With their economy thriving, their residents are coming to the Islands in larger numbers.

"They're able to buy more while they're here," she said. "They spend more; they enjoy seeing and doing everything. Oceania visitors have a nice length of stay, 8.75 days."

Wienert said the statistics from developing international markets help guide the state in where to emphasize more or less spending. But officials also have to gauge the numbers of visitors along with the percentage point changes. For example, Latin America saw a 10.7 percent increase, but with only 9,255 visitors in the first six months of the year from that region — spending an average of $160 a day — those numbers become less powerful.

The Other Asia market — outside of Japan — was up 1.2 percent in visitor arrivals, an encouraging trend with this group coming in as the second highest spenders at $208 a day. (Japan visitors are the biggest spenders at $266 a day.)

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.