Another month of steady visitor arrivals has tourism officials wondering if 17 months of decline has ended — although spending is still down about 14 percent.

The number of visitors who arrived in Hawai'i last month was virtually unchanged from August last year at 608,420 visitors, according to preliminary statistics released yesterday by the Hawai'i Tourism Authority.

"After 17 months of declining arrivals, we are pleased to see that visitor arrivals overall have held steady for the past two months and that arrivals from our main market, U.S. West, have shown an increase for four consecutive months," said Mike McCartney, president and CEO for Hawai'i Tourism Authority.

Officials said growth in visitors from U.S. West (up 7 percent) made up for decreased arrivals from U.S. East (down 2.6 percent), Japan (down 8.4 percent) and Canada (down 4.7 percent).

However, total visitor spending for August 2009 declined again due to lower average daily spending by these visitors ($153 per person, down from $176 per person in August 2008). Total expenditure by air visitors in the month of August 2009 was $836.1 million, a decrease of $134.8 million or 13.9 percent compared with last August, critical numbers for the state's No. 1 private industry.

"It's bittersweet," said state tourism liaison Marsha Wienert, commenting on the steady arrivals but decline in spending.

Total spending by air visitors for the first eight months of 2009 declined $1.2 billion or 15.7 percent from year-to-date 2008, to $6.6 billion.

Total visitor days for air and cruise visitors also decreased 1.2 percent, due to a shorter average length of stay (9 days in August 2009 versus 9.11 days in August 2008).

Jerry Gibson, area vice president and managing director for Hilton Hawaii, noted a bump in timeshare business up 5.1 percent statewide with a whopping 56 percent increase in Japanese visitors in timeshares.

Gibson thinks that's a reflection of the attraction of new timeshare properties for his company and others. "We have the Grand Waikikian and also the King's Landing over on the Big Island." Other companies have new places on Maui and Kaua'i.

"There's kind of a small but growing trend of some Japanese travel to timeshares," Gibson said, where the travelers are renting timeshares for the extra room and kitchen facilities.

Overall, Gibson sees promise in the industry. "What I think is people are getting a little itchy to travel again," Gibson said.

They're still looking for good deals but they're traveling, he said.

At the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel, their specific occupancy and rates mirrored the statewide trend, according to sales and marketing associate Lisa Reasoner.

"Last year, we did about 83 percent occupancy. This year about 83.9 percent," she said with average daily room rates dropping from about $200 last year to $172 this August.

Reasoner said last-minute bookings filled up July and August, which "looked pretty scary" six months back. She said the hotel relies on a majority of older guests from the West Coast with about 10 percent from Japan. She's nervous about the seasonal slowdown in late October and early November where the rooms booked so far number only 30 percent.

Restaurants are seeing some good signs.

"Duke's has had a wonderful year; we've been very blessed," said Ross Anderson, regional general manager of Duke's Waikiki.

"People are spending less, they're not buying the T-shirt; they might not be getting an appetizer,"Anderson said. "But they're still coming and enjoying the beach."

• All islands reported lower visitor expenditures last month compared to August 2008. Total visitor expenditures on O'ahu decreased 11.7 percent to $443.6 million. Total expenditures on Maui dropped 14.7 percent to $203.6 million; total visitor spending on the Big Island declined 19.5 percent to $97.6 million; and total visitor spending on Kaua'i fell 12.2 percent to $85.7 million.

• In total, more visitors stayed exclusively on one island (3.1%) resulting in a 10.1 percent decline in multiple island visitations compared with August 2008.

• O'ahu saw a 1.6 percent growth in total visitors; but total visitations decreased for the Big Island (8%), Kaua'i (5.2%) and Maui (2.4%) in August 2009.