Hawaiʻi tourism figures will be out soon for the month of August. Other visitor spots around the Asia Pacific are sharing their own recent numbers, which include some disappointments — and some records.
Tourism has been booming this year in South Korea.
The government says more than 15 million travelers visited South Korea in the first eight months of this year, setting a new record.
That's up a little more than 20% from a year ago, while visitor spending rose at more than twice that pace.
China tops Korea's tourism market, with nearly 5 million visitors; Japan is next with nearly 3 million.
Nearly 1 million Americans traveled to South Korea in the first 8 months of this year, up more than 11% from a year ago.
As a region, Southeast Asia continues to be an important source of overseas travelers.
Growth came from the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
Even smaller markets like Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia each supplied more than 200,000 visitors to South Korea over the same period of January through August.
That time frame was a mixed record for other regional destinations.
Foreign arrivals dipped slightly in both Japan and Thailand, while they rose sharply in Vietnam.
Complete figures for China are not yet available, but the first six months of the year showed strong growth.
One common theme for the big regional gainers: simplified entry rules.
