U.S., April 25 -- Visitors to the Hawaiian Islands spent a total of $4.52 billion in the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 2.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 20181, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA).

In the first quarter, visitor spending was flat from the U.S. West (-0.3% to $1.64 billion) and declined from U.S. East (-1.4% to $1.23 billion), Japan (-3.2% to $539.9 million), Canada (-2.0% to $455.7 million) and All Other International Markets (-8.8% to $637.7 million) compared to a year ago.

Total visitor arrivals in the first quarter grew 2.6 percent to 2,542,269 visitors, supported by arrivals via air service (+2.6% to 2,502,636) and cruise ships (-0.8% to 39,632) co...