When Rep Gene Ward started sending one sided, anti-tourism flyers (click image) to the general public in Oahu for "staged town hall meetings" he forgot to add these statistics.Oahu, Hawaii is currently suffering through it's worst tourism declines since the Great Depression.
Rep Gene Ward wants to hurt the economy further by halting 40,000 annual tourists from seeing sharks from cages.
Is this the face of a politician who is in touch with the realities on the ground?
VISITOR ARRIVAL DECLINES
The number of visitors arriving in Hawaii by air in October with the percentage change from the same month last year:
| VISITORS | PCT. | |
| Domestic | 190,215 | -15.9% |
| International | 122,923 | -8.9% |
| Total | 493,506 | -13.5% |
| Overall total | * 511,518 | -13.5% |
| by island | ||
| Oahu | 313,138 | -13.3% |
| Kauai | 75,119 | -25.9% |
| Lanai | 6,404 | -29.7% |
| Maui | 147,977 | -20.5% |
| Molokai | 4,672 | -35.9% |
| Big Island | 96,366 | -19.7% |
* Includes passengers arriving by ship
Source: Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism
