The close of 2014 marked another landmark year for Hawaii’s tourism economy.

This is the third year in a row that the destination has reached record highs in both visitor spending and arrivals — totaling US$14.75 billion in visitor expenditures and over 8.2 million visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in 2014.

Canadians left their mark on Hawaii yet again, with a 1.3% increase in visitors to the Aloha State and expenditures totaling $1.1 billion.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) went into 2014 with a goal of reaching $14.69 billion in visitor expenditures and surpassed their target at $14.75 billion, which amounted to a 2.3% increase in spending. HTA also surpassed its 2014 visitor arrival target of 8,250,937 with a total of 8,282,680 travellers stepping foot on Hawaiian soil in 2014 (accounting for a 1.3% increase over 2013).

HTA attributes the record-breaking year to increased seat inventory out of North America in the later half of 2014 — thanks in part to a decrease in oil prices. As oil prices remain low, HTA anticipates further growth in air seats out of North America as well as lower airfares.

A total of 523,534 Canadian visitors made it to Hawaii’s islands in 2014, accounting for a 1.3% increase in visitor arrivals year over year. Though Canadian visitor expenditures totaled $1.1 billion in 2014, this is a decrease over 2013 visitor expenditures of 0.5%. HTA attributes the decrease to a lower average daily spending of $160 per person (versus $164 per person in 2013).