Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report

2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report Fourth Quarter (October December) Hawai i Convention Center 1801 Kalākaua Avenue Honolulu, Hawai i 96815 (808) 973-2255 www.hawaiitourismauthority.org

INTRODUCTION This quarterly monitoring report presents selected preliminary statistics from the fourth quarter of the 2013 Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Survey. The survey measures the opinions of visitors from the top four Major Market Areas (MMAs), U.S. West, U.S. East, Japan, and Canada, regarding their satisfaction with Hawai i as a visitor destination. The report highlights survey respondents evaluation of their vacation experience, including: overall satisfaction with their most recent vacation to Hawai i, trip expectations, likelihood to recommend Hawai i, likelihood to revisit Hawai i, reasons for not revisiting Hawai i, satisfaction by island, and trip planning timeline. SATISFACTION RATINGS Visitor satisfaction is an important indicator of industry performance. It provides vital feedback on how well services are delivered based on visitor evaluations. High satisfaction is expected to be a leading indicator of customer retention and loyalty. Satisfying visitors needs and expectations encourages return trips to Hawai i. Satisfied customers also develop a fondness for the destination and tend to share their favorable assessment with others. Figure 1: Overall Rating of Trip [Percentage of visitors who were satisfied with their most recent trip by MMA] We continue with the data presentation format that first appeared in 2012. In Figure 1, the raw data are now shown as dotted lines and a solid line was added to show the trend line for the last two years. This 4th Quarter Report will also introduce the first satisfaction data available for our visitors from China and Korea. CONDITION OF VISITOR INDUSTRY There were 1,921,726 visitor arrivals by air in the fourth quarter (October - December) of 2013. That was a decrease of 2.9 percent compared with the fourth quarter of 2013. Arrivals from U.S. West declined 8 percent to 752,315 visitors. U.S. East arrivals of 360,853 visitors were down 5.7 percent. In contrast, arrivals from Japan increased 5.7 percent to 399,699 visitors. Arrivals from Canada of 142,142 visitors were comparable to the fourth quarter of 2012. The average length of stay for all visitors was 9.35 days, similar to the fourth quarter of 2012. Visitor arrivals to O ahu dropped 1.2 percent to 1,217,569 visitors. Arrivals on Maui decreased 1.6 percent to 562,443 visitors. Hawai i Island saw a decline of 8.4 percent to 331,610 visitors. Arrivals to Kaua i of 258,476 visitors was down 2.3 percent. Note: Response options were changed from a fourpoint scale to an 8-point scale in 2012. Figures shown here include responses 1 and 2 for 2011 and 1 through 4 for 2012-2013. Since 2008, over 95 percent of visitors from all four MMAs have been satisfied with their overall experience in Hawai i. Because ratings are consistently high, the scale in Figure 1 was adjusted to show slight differences. HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 1

Satisfied ratings from U.S. East and Canadian visitors were unchanged since fourth quarter 2012. U.S. West ratings were up one point, and ratings for our Japanese visitors were up two points (not statistically significant). Trend lines reveal a small but persistent decline over the last three years for U.S. West and U.S. East visitors. Ratings have been rising for Japan and especailly for Canada. Canadian visitor ratings (+4 points) and Japanese visitor ratings (+5 points) also increased from fourth quarter 2012. The trend lines (trailing 3-month moving averages) show that U.S. West visitor ratings have been rising since third quarter 2012 after two years of decline. For all three of the other major MMAs, the trend has shown a slight increase during the past two to four quarters. Exceeded Expectations Visitor satisfaction is influenced by the level of service people receive while they are here, and by their own needs, interests, and expectations. Therefore, it is important to measure how well the destination is able to provide the experience that was expected. Overall, Hawai i s ability to exceed expectations continues to be strong. Figure 2: Trip Exceeds Expectations [Percentage of visitors who said this trip Exceeded Expectations by MMA] Very Likely to Recommend Hawai i Visitors who are highly satisfied with their trip are more likely to recommend their destination to friends and family. Relatively high percentages of visitors to Hawai i reported that they would be very likely to recommend this destination to others. This word-of-mouth advertising is important in marketing. In time, referrals will produce more firsttime visitors to Hawai i as well as more repeat visits. Figure 3: Very Likely to Recommend Hawai i to Friends and Relatives [Percentage of visitors who are Very Likely to recommend Hawai i as a vacation place by MMA] The percent of visitors for whom the trip exceeded expectations was higher in the fourth quarter 2013 than in the fourth quarter 2012 for visitors from the U.S. East (+2 points) and U.S. West (+3 points). Over the past few years, roughly nine out of ten U.S. West, U.S. East, and Canadian visitors HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 2

said they would be very likely to recommend Hawai i to friends and relatives. Among visitors from Japan, the likelihood has been lower. Their ratings improved to a high point of 82 in the third quarter of 2012. Japan s 74 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 dropped (-4 points) since the same quarter of 2012. Likely to Revisit Hawai i points in 2012 and have been leveling off or decreasing since that time. The U.S. West trend has been much smaller than other MMAs. Canada may be showing some improvement. Ratings have decreased notably this quarter. Visitor ratings for the likelihood of returning to Hawai i in the next five years dropped eight points for U.S. East, ten points for Japan, and five points for Canada. The satisfaction indicator Likelihood to revisit Hawai i is useful in estimating future demand and predicting numbers and characteristics of repeat visitors. We expect it to be lower than overall satisfaction measures because not all visitors will be taking longhaul trips in the near future. Ratings among Hawai i s top four MMAs ranged from 45 to 80 percent in the last three years. Figure 4: Very Likely to Revisit Hawai i [Percentage of visitors who are Very Likely to revisit Hawai i in the next five years by MMA] Reasons for Not Revisiting Hawai i Visitors who report that they are not likely to revisit Hawai i do so for many reasons. Understanding those reasons allows us to distinguish dissatisfied visitors from those who are simply unable to return. Visitors who reported that they were not likely to revisit Hawai i in the next five years were asked to tell us why that was so. Their responses are shown in Figures 5 through 7. We have separated the list into two components: barriers include those items that might restrict a visitor s choice to come back to Hawai i, and dissatisfaction which includes negative reactions to Hawai i and its visitor product. Barriers appear at the top of Figures 5 through 7. Trend lines for Likely to revisit Hawai i in the next five years are similar for all four of the top MMAs. The trends rose five to seven U.S. Visitors About half of U.S. visitors offered at least one barrier as a reason for not returning to Hawai i. That was a slight decrease from the same quarter last year. (Note the shorter bars for all but want to go somewhere new in fourth quarter 2013.) The desire to experience new destinations was the top barrier to returning to Hawaii in the fourth quarter of 2013 (45%). Last year the fourth quarter rating was much lower (27%) and the most frequently mentioned barrier to return was that five years was too soon to return (36%). One of the dissatisfaction items the flight is too long stands out from the others because it is diffcult to control. All of the other dissatisfaction items are characteristics of the Hawai i visitor HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 3

industry product. They can be used to improve that product and enhance the visitor experience. Less than half of all visitors cited one of the dissatisfaction measures as their reason for not returning. Dissatisfaction was mentioned more in this quarter than in the same quarter a year earlier. That may be of concern to some as we see satisfaction trends dropping a bit (Figure 1) and willingness to return dropping by slightly larger margins (Figure 4). Figure 5: Reasons for Not Revisiting Hawai i in Next 5 Years [Percentage of U.S. Visitors] U.S. visitors who mentioned prices ( not enough value for the price ) were about 13.3 percent this quarter, down from 25 percent in fourth quarter 2012. Again some felt that Hawai i was too overdeveloped (15%), or congested (26%). Both were up notably since last year. Japanese Visitors Between fourth quarter 2012 and fourth quarter 2013, the pattern of Japanese visitors response to the reason for not returning question changed very little. As in the past they were quite likely to report that they would rather visit someplace new (43%) or that they felt that five years was to soon to come back to Hawai i (51%). Figure 6: Reasons for Not Revisiting Hawai i in Next 5 Years - [Percentage of Japanese Visitors] Note: In 2012, U.S respondents offered many fewer responses per person than in other years, making comparisons unreliable for long-term analysis. The item too expensive was added in 2013. Note: Poor service includes unfriendly people/felt unwelcome. In the fourth quater of 2013, the chief dissatifaction items cited by U.S. visitors were crowding or congestion (26%) and commercialization or overdevelopment (15%). In trhe fourth quarter of 2012, the top two dissaftifaction items were prices (25%) and crowding or congestion (19%). Negative comments about poor service and unfriendly people were very infrequent among our U.S. visitors (2%). Visitors from Japan were less likely than U.S. visitors to report negative aspects of their trip to Hawai i as a reason for not returning. Fewer of them reported that Hawai i was too crowded (5% vs. 26%) or too commercial (3% vs. 15%). Negative comments about poor service and unfriendly people were just over four percent in fourth quarter 2012, but dropped to less than one percent in trhe fourth quarter of 2013. HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 4

Canadian Visitors Visitors from Canada have yet another profile of reasons for not revisiting Figure 7: Reasons for Not Revisiting Hawai i in Next 5 Years - [Percentage of Canadian Visitors] Individual Island Experience Each island in Hawai i has unique characteristics, activities, and products that attract different kinds of visitors and produce varied visitor experiences. Visitor industry planners need satisfaction measurements in order to develop new and improved visitor products and services and to design communications programs. The VSAT survey asks Hawai i visitors to rate their experience on each island that they visited during their trip. Results are shown in Figures 8 to 10. For all of the major MMAs, the patterns of change are very similar for O ahu, Hawai i, and Maui. Ratings for Kaua i have a slightly different trend for each of the MMAs. In Figure 8, we see island satisfaction profiles for U.S. visitors who rated their island experience as excellent over the last three years. Figure 8: Island Experience Rated as Excellent [Percentage of U.S. Visitors by Island] Canadian visitors were about as likely as U.S. visitors to report dissatisfaction with Hawai i as a reason for not returning. Visitors from both points of origin mentioned not enough value (16% vs. 13%), commercialization, (7% vs. 15%), and congestion (7% vs. 26%) as reasons for not revisiting Hawai i. Negative comments about poor service and unfriendly people dropped from 4.8 percent in 2012 to 1.9 percent in fourth quarter 2013. In the past, Canadian visitors were more likely than U.S. visitors to report barriers to returning to Hawai i. In 2012, they were more likely to say they wanted to go to someplace new (44% vs. 27%) or the that the flight was too long (51% vs. 35%). In the fourth quarter of 2013, however, their profile was much closer to that for U.S. visitors. They were equally likely to want to visit someplace new (42% vs. 45%) and to report that the flight was too long (32% vs. 38%). In the fourth quarter of 2013, Excellent ratings increased (+2 points) for O ahu but declined for Hawai i (-9 points) and Kaua i (-12 points). Maui s one point drop was not significant. HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 5

The overall trends for all Islands show a decrease in excellence ratings that began in the second and third quarters of 2011. More recently, trends began to rise again. That increasing trend has continued for Maui and O ahu, but is faltering again for Kaua i and Hawai i Island. Island satisfaction profiles for visitors from Japan who rated their island experience as excellent over the last three years are presented in Figure 9. Ratings for the island of Kaua i are quite volatile. Fewer visitors from Japan choose to go to Kaua i so the ratings are based on smaller sample sizes. Kaua i the trend continued through 2013. The O ahu decline seems to have leveled off. Figure 10: Island Experience Rated as Excellent [Percentage of Canadian Visitors by Island] Figure 9: Island Experience Rated as Excellent - [Percentage of Japanese Visitors by Island] Japan s ratings, always a bit more volatile than those of other MMAs, showed some big changes this quarter. Fourth quarter 2013 excellent ratings declined significantly for Maui and Kaua i. Maui fell by 22 points) and Kaua i excellent ratings were down 19 points since fourth quarter 2012. O ahu dropped two points and Hawai i s rating was up four points. Japanese visitor trends for all islands show a steady decrease in excellent ratings that began in the second half of 2011. For Maui and In Figure 10, we present the island satisfaction profiles for visitors from Canada who rated their island experience as excellent over the last three years. Ratings among our Canadian visitors also began a downward trend in the second and third quarters of 2011. For O ahu and Hawai i Island, the downward trend continued in 2013. Trends for Maui and Kaua i have made some improvement during the last two quarters of 2013. The Kaua i ratings trend exhibits a more varied pattern (Figure 10). Compared with fourth quarter 2012 ratings, 2013 fourth quarter excellent ratings fell nine points for O ahu. Kaua i, Maui and the island of Hawai i all increased -- Kaua i by 5 points, Maui by 12 points, and Hawai i by 2 points. HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 6

NEW DATA: CHINA AND KOREA HTA conducted a pilot program in 2013 to expand VSAT coverage to visitors from China and Korea. Two data collection methods were tested the standard after-visit mail survey and an exit intercept interview conducted at the airport. The mail surveys had much lower response rates than any other MMA (5.7 percent for China and 2.9 percent for Korea). The intercept interview used a much shorter survey instrument, but can produce 600 interviews per MMA per quarter at a reasonable cost. For 2014 only the intercept method will be used for visitors from China and Korea. In this report we will share the first data from China and Korea. Beginning in 2014, quarterly reports will provide data for the six major MMAs along with China and Korea as representative of the Other Asia MMA. Visitor Characteristics Visitors from China and Korea have unique and interesting profiles relative to visitors from other MMAs*. Less than half of survey respondents from the major MMAs (U.S., Japan, and Other) are male. Their average age is between 51 to 57 years. Respondents from China were more likely to be males (52%) and to be just under 50 years of age. Korean respondents were more likely to be female (56%) and have an average age of only 32 years. Table 1: Selected Visitor Characteristics [Percent of Respondents, Q4 2013] Japan China Korea U.S. Other Males 49 52 44 47 47 Mean age 50.6 49.5 32.0 56.7 52.9 College 52 77 84 76 60 educated Employed 13 63 86 63 68 Retired 18 33 5 27 25 First-time visitor 28 91 84 19 40 * For these preliminary data we have combined results for U.S. West and U.S. East as U.S. and those for Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand as Other. The Annual Resport will provide data in greater detail. Consistent with their youth, respondents from China and Korea were also more highly educated and more likely to be employed. This was especially true for Korean respondents. About 84 percent of them were college educated, 86 percent were currently employed, and only five percent were retired persons. The 13 percent for Japan is typical as many of the respondents are homemakers. China and Korea are relatively new entrants to Hawaii s visitor markets. As expected, survey respondents included many first-time visitors 84 percent for Korea and 91 percent for China. Primary Purpose of Trip We were also interested in the reasons visitors came to Hawai i because the purpose of trip may affect the way visitors determine their satisfaction ratings. The data in Table 2 support that contention. Table 2: Primary Purpose of Trip [Percent reporting primary purpose Q4, 2013] Japan China Korea U.S. Other Vacation 59 78 58 65 81 Family 7 9 4 18 7 Wedding 18 2 35 4 5 Business 1 10 2 8 3 Other 15 1 1 5 4 Family: visit family/friends, reunion, anniversary, celebration. Wedding: honeymoon, get married, go to a wedding. Business: business, convention, meeting, incentive trip. We have noted over the years that more U.S. visitors came to Hawai i to attend to family matters, and more Japanese visitors came for weddings and honeymoons. All others make the trip primarily for vacations. Among Korean visitors, the percent who came for weddings (35%) was almost twice as high as the Japanese visitors. Among Chinese, we find the highest percentage arrive in Hawai i on business. In the fourth quarter of 2013, a larger percent of Japanese visitors listed other purposes for their trip. About 11 of those 15 points were due to an HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 7

influx of Japanese visitors arriving to attend the Honolulu Marathon. Satisfaction Because the visitor characteristics and purpose of trip indicators were different for visitors from China and Korea, it was expected that satisfaction measures might also show uniquenesses. The data in Table 3 shows some intersting patterns. It will be useful to track these new satisfaction measures over the course of 2014. Table 3: Measures of Satisfaction [Percent of Visitors from Five MMAs 4 th Q 2013] Japan China Korea U.S. Other Overall (top 2 boxes) 67 73 83 82 80 Exceeded expectations 34 14 42 39 41 Very likely recommend 75 88 87 89 86 Very likely to return 55 38 81 68 57 Overall: We might think of overall satisfaction as an indicator of how people from different areas (or cultures) use the scale to describe their experience. People from the U.S. and Other MMAs report similar levels of satisfaction (80-82%). Visitors from Japan report satisfaction that is 13 to 16 points lower. Our Korean visitors report a level of satisfaction (83%) that is similar to US and Other visitors. At 73 percent, Chinese visitors are closer to the Japanese level at 67 percent. Exceed Expectations: For all groups, the percent who said the trip exceeded their expectations was lower than those who said they were very satisfied with the trip. The pattern had been the same for years, with about 35 to 40 percent giving Hawai i high marks. The new data show that the Chinese (14%) score was even lower than Japanese (34%) visitors scores. The Korean rating was 42% or about the same as Other visitors. Likely to Recommend: This item always has the highest scores with more than 85 percent saying they were very likely to recommend Hawai i to their family and friends. Japanese scores are always a little lower. Both the Chinese and the Korean visitor ratings were above 85 percent. Very Likely to Return: The last measure of satisfaction in Table 3 lists those who reported that they were very likely to return to Hawai i within the next five years. Typical responses are midrange between expectations and overall satisfaction. For our Chinese and Korean visitors, response patterns were atypical. Chinese visitors had a very low score at 38 percent, and Korean visitors had a very high score at 81 percent. Island Experience Our first-time measure of Chinese and Korean visitor satisfaction with experience on individual islands is shown in Table 4. We have included only trips to the four major islands here. Results exhibit interesting patterns for the two new visitor groups. Table 4: Island Experience [Percent of Visitors from Five MMAs 4 th Q 2013] Japan China Korea U.S. Other O ahu 52 99 84 49 45 Hawai i 55 54 77 56 53 Maui 42 41 72 63 63 Kaua i 58 63 81 64 62 Both Chinese and Korean visitors rated their O ahu experience much higher than visitors from other major MMAs. Among the Chinese visitors, 99 percent said they were extremely satisfied with their visit to O ahu. Among Korean visitors, satisfaction with trips to Hawai i, Kaua i, and Maui Islands also received very high scores. The ratings seems consistent with other high ratings offered by visitors from Korea in 2013 (Table 3). Chinese visitors, on the other hand, offered scores that were about the same as other MMAs for Hawai i and Kaua i. Their lower score for Maui was similar to the scores usually offered by our Japanese visitors. HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 8

Travel Behaviors A new piece of data on all of our visitors since 2012 is sources of information used to make travel decisions. It was gathered from visitors from China and Korea for the first time in fourth quarter 2013. Table 5 compares their responses with visitors from other MMAs. Table 5: Sources of Information Used Before Trip [Percent who used selected information sources before arriving in Hawai i, Q4, 2013] Japan China Korea U.S. Other Travel agent 63 14 28 16 37 Corporate 43 84 18 47 52 Internet 45 36 66 38 48 Traditional 42 2 52 23 32 Personal 47 48 33 73 71 Any source 95 97 96 92 95 In all, Chinese visitors were distinguished by very high usage (84%) of corporate sources (wholesalers, airline, and lodging sources.) Korean visitor information data noted higher than average use of traditional media and the Internet. Booking Times The timing of bookings (making reservations) for Hawai i travel was first reported here in 2012. The VSAT survey gathers data on a range of travel decision issues and we have selected the timing of the decision to visit Hawai i as a general indicator of booking times. Quarterly results are shown for visitors from the top four MMAs in Figure 11. Figure 11: How long before arrival did you decide on Hawai i as your destination? [Percentage of visitors by quarter in 2013] Personal: personal experience; advice from friends/family Corporate: companies specializing in package tours, airlines, and hotels. Internet: online booking, webpage, social media, apps, HVCB site. Traditional: books, newspapers, magazines, in English. The use of travel agents, once the mainstay of the travel industry, is still quite high in Japan (63%), but quite low (16%) in the United States and about 37 percent in Other MMAs. Chinese visitors (14%) were less likely than other MMAs to consult travel agents, and Korean visitors were low as well (28%). The use of traditional media (books, magazines, and newspapers) showed a similar pattern. Usage was lower in the U.S. (23%) and Other MMAs (32%), and a little higher (42%) in Japan. Only two percent of Chinese visitors used traditional media. On the other hand, 52 percent of visitors from Korea said they used books, newpapers or magazines before arriving in Hawai i. Use of the Internet as a resource for making travel decisions has been rising notably in the last decade. For our two new visitors groups, Chinese visitors reported the lowest use of Internet (36%) and Korean visitors reported the highest use of Internet (66%). Our visitors from Japan usually decide on their vacation destination closer to the travel date than those from the other MMAs. About 59 percent of visitors from Japan choose their destination less than 90 days before their departure date. That compares with about 44 percent of U.S. visitors and 36 percent of visitors from Canada. The booking times were similar to fourth quarter 2012, booking times for U.S. Visitors (44% vs. 43%), and Japan (59% vs. 60%). HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 9

Information Sources for Trip Planning Sources of information used for trip planning and booking provide information on communications channels used by our visitors. These data have been gathered for many years and are available in 2013 along with information about when they are used - before the trip begins, during the trip, and after the trip. We have already mentioned them briefly in the perviois section. In this section we will present details of information usage for the top four MMAs (Figure 12). All Visitors The fourth quarter 2013 results show that travel agents are used by about 29 percent of visitors from Hawai i s top four MMAs to plan and book their itineraries. About 23 percent of all visitors use companies that specialize in packaged tours. Figure 12: Sources of Information Used for Trip Planning - [Percentage of All visitors] friends and relatives, suggesting that our positive word-of-mouth advertising has been successful. Figure 12 shows than for nearly all information sources, usage was notably higher before the trip to Hawai i than during the trip or after returning home. Interesting exceptions occurr for the traditional media (newspapes, magazines, and books) and for smart phone or tablet applications. We will be delving into this topic further in the future. Figure 12 establishes the information source profile for visitors as a whole. The next few figures will show that there were notable differences across MMAs in terms of the types of information used in trip planning. U.S. Visitors U.S. visitors have an information use profile very similar to that for all visitors. They were, however, less likely to use travel agents (18% vs. 29%) and somewhat more likely to rely on their personal experience (60% vs. 53%). Figure 13: Sources of Information Used for Trip Planning - [Percentage of U.S. visitors] About 53 percent of all visitors rely on their personal experience for travel arrangements. That may be indicative of the relatively large number of repeat visitors enjoyed by our destination. About 45 percent of them rely on recommendations from HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 10

U.S. visitor patterns for information use before, during, and after their trips to our State appear to be very similar to those of visitors as a whole. Japanese Visitors Visitors from Japan had a unique profile this quarter. They were significantly more likely than the average visitor to rely on travel agents (69% vs. 29%) and to use companies that specialize in package tours (30% vs. 22%). They were less likely than other visitors to use online travel booking sites (30 vs. 37%). Canadian Visitors Visitors from Canada had a profile similar to U.S. visitors. They were, however, much more likely than the average visitor to rely on recommendations from friends and family (53% vs. 45%), and to use online services such as booking sites (49% vs. 38%) and webpages or blogs (37% vs. 32%). Figure 15: Sources of Information Used for Trip Planning - [Percentage of Canadian visitors] Figure 14: Sources of Information Used for Trip Planning - [Percentage of Japanese visitors] Many of the issues covered in this report on visitors arriving in the fourth quarter 2013 will be revisited and expanded in the annual report for the year. Japanese visitors were also much more likely to use magazines (55% vs. 26%), and books (45% vs. 32%) in planning their trip. But they were also more likelt than other visitors to make use of online web pages or travel blogs. It seems they are relatively heavy consumers of all types of media for reasearch, but tend to use more traditional resources for travel booking. HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 11

SURVEY METHODS The Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Survey is a monthly survey mailed to visitors who recently completed a trip to Hawai i. Monthly samples of visitors who stayed for at least two days are drawn from completed Domestic In-Flight and International Departure Survey databases. Visitors may respond by mail or Internet. VSAT surveys are mailed each week to visitors from each MMA. Quarterly data are reported for visitors from the four larger MMAs: U.S. West (Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming), U.S. East (all other States in the Continental U.S.), Japan, and Canada. Sample sizes for other MMAs (Europe, Oceania, China, and Korea) are insufficient to support accurate reporting by quarter and are usually covered only in the annual report. We made an exception for this report in order to bring you some of the early results for VSAT surveys among these two groups. Finally, note that survey forms in the English, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean languages are mailed to visitors from those MMAs. Approximately 6,203 surveys were mailed each month. An average of 964 completed forms was returned for an unadjusted response rate of about 16 percent. Response rates differ by month and across MMAs and surveys continue to arrive for up to a year after they are mailed. Response rates will improve over time. Survey response data for the fourth quarter are shown in Table 6. The number of surveys mailed in the fourth quarter was 18,611 and will not change over time. About 2,892 surveys were received by December 30, 2013 and that number will increase slightly for the year. The current response rate was about 16 percent for the fourth quarter with a margin of error of plus-orminus 1.6 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. Response rates for Japan continue to be higher than other MMAs and our experiment with VSAT for China and Korea has not yet resulted in significant data. Table 6: Survey Response October December 2013 MMA Mailed Received Rate Error U.S. West 4,050 660 16.3 3.75 U.S. East 2,805 460 16.4 4.51 Canada 3,150 564 17.9 4.06 Japan 3,475 636 18.3 3.82 Europe 2,031 238 11.7 6.31 Oceania 2,487 310 12.5 5.52 China 230 13 5.7 N/A Korea 383 11 2.9 N/A Total 18,611 2,892 15.5 1.67 Data collected in online surveys were merged with mailed survey data to form a single database for analysis. Collected data were statistically adjusted to reflect the distribution of cases by island and firsttime/repeat visitor status in the Domestic In-Flight and International Departure Surveys. Data were statistically adjusted to be representative of the population of visitor parties entering Hawai i during each quarter. Results are presented only for classifications (MMA, islands visited, ports of entry, types of visitors, etc.) for which sample sizes are large enough to produce statistics with sample error estimates less than plus or minus 10 points. For information about obtaining visitor data, call Hawai i Tourism Authority (HTA), (808) 973-2255 or email to: research@hawai itourismauthority.org. **** HTA Fourth Quarter 2013 Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Report 12