"It has been down especially as a result of the earthquake and tsunami but it is starting to creep back up a little bit," said Mike Brown, Panda Travel.
Some tourism based businesses say another demographic is starting to find the Aloha State inviting.
"It’s what we’ve been wanting," Brown explained, "it’s a shot in the arm, what we’ve been wanting for a long time.”
Thousands of gay visitors are expected this week because of two major events the Honolulu Rainbow Film Festival and the Paradise Festival.
"This year we have done more to market to the out of state visitor," said Daniel Chun, Honolulu Gay & Lesbian Foundation.
As the oldest and largest travel outlet in the state Panda Travel has revamped one of it’s websites www.Hawaiigaytravel.com with the goal of bringing in a new market of visitors.
"Because they typically have a higher level of disposable income and they travel longer and more frequently," said Chun.
"All that stuff is a domino effect," Brown said. "It‘s not just about the money they spent on their airline ticket it’s the money they spend here on everything."
With 30 feature and short films from as far as Germany, Asia and Canada the Rainbow Film Festival is the longest running film event of its kind.
"A lot of the film makers and actors and other special guests that we try to attract are really interested of course in coming to Honolulu," said Brown.
Officials at Aqua Hotels and Resorts say they are gearing up for an increase in occupancy this week.
Pride festivals are also scheduled to take place in Honolulu next month and in September.
"This market has always been very, very strong for aqua," said Beth Churchill, Aqua Hotels & Resorts.
And the market it expected to grow even more in January when the state’s new civil unions law goes into effect.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
