It seems like just yesterday when the state's annual visitor count passed the 7 million mark and the concern was about how to boost our tourism take without straining our roads and beaches further with more tourists.

What a difference two years makes — to the state's economy and, by logical extension, to its tourism strategy. The state needs to move quickly to amend that strategy with the aim of filling more of its hotel rooms and softening the effect of a slow market on the economy as a whole.

Two years ago, the instinct was to lure the wealthier tourists by promoting Hawai'i's higher-end resorts, so more money could be harvested from a lighter visitor load.

Now the industry — and the economy as a whole — is facing a downturn, and the worry is about how to bring in the vacationers, not about the Islands' carrying capacity.

A survey released this week by the Business Banking Council charted the mood among 100 local firms that are touched by the visitor industry. The mood is not good: Two-thirds expect the shutdown of airlines to have ripple effects on their bottom lines.

No huge surprise there. The Lingle administration has been advocating lately for shifting $10 million in state funds toward visitor marketing.

But while it's heartening to see the state taking a leadership role in preparing for the low ebb in the economic cycle, officials need to maximize the effect of that marketing.

The administration's tourism liaison, Marsha Wienert, suggests that the state adjust the aim of its marketing plan to reach more of the potential travelers, those closer to the middle- as well as the upper-income strata.

While it seems clear that for the short term Hawai'i can't afford a narrow focus on the higher-end market, the answer seems to lie, as Wienert suggests, in casting a broader net.

While critics of this idea say it's the luxury market that has more disposable income for vacations now, the fact remains that much of the state's hotel inventory is keyed to the middle-income traveler. They need to be a target.

And the campaign can be based on the appeal Hawai'i holds for all visitors, regardless of earning power. Its natural beauty. Its multiethnic people, with its rich native culture as the centerpiece.

There are attractions geared to specific markets, but the private hotels and companies can tailor their own promotional efforts to meet their own needs. The campaign to reach markets is going to take a collaborative effort, using private as well as public funds.

Of course, pitching kama'aina "stay-cations" to local residents has to be part of the mix. No marketing stone should be left unturned.

But the emphasis needs to be on bringing people to our shores: Hometown vacationers don't spend nearly as much on incidentals and so bring a much weaker infusion of cash into the economy.

And the state should bring into the effort the full range of visitor-related businesses which, after all, can help convey Hawai'i's "brand."

This week's survey shows that 63 percent of them expect things to get worse. There's no better antidote for that pessimism than being enlisted as part of the solution.