New Acquisition

Summary Analysis of Economic and Social Impacts on Maui County from Timeshare Conversions, June 1, 2006. Prepared for County of Maui Finance Department by Hospitality Advisors, Inc. This report provides overview market data, analyses, and commentary regarding the impact of timeshare conversions in Maui County. Timeshare statistics including projections are included, with easy to read graphs and charts.

2005 Annual Visitor Research Report, compiled and published by the State of Hawai`i, Dept. of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT). The report includes detailed air visitor statistics: by major market areas; by purpose of trip, by accommodation and by first-time/repeat visitor status; detailed visitor expenditures, by island and by category, and air seat capacity data to Hawai`i. Also presented are statistics on visitor age and gender distributions, visitor room inventory, hotel occupancy and room rates. New statistics added to this year's report are cruise visitor spending by island, visitors by life-stage, statistics on wedding visitors, and daily visitor spending by purpose of trip and by accommodation. You can also find Annual Visitor Research Reports from 1999 to 2005 on the web by clicking here.

3 new Industry Snapshots from the Small Business Development Center Information Clearinghouse: the legal profession, artisan bread industry, and gift and greeting card shops.

The University of Hawai'i Economic Research Organization,UHERO Hawai'i Quarterly Forecast Update: Inflation Shock Means Sharply Lower "Real" Growth, released September 14, 2006 by Carl Bonham and Byron Gangnes. Inflation forecast has been raised to 5.2% from our 3.8% forecast made in May, based on the nearly 6% inflation experienced in the first half of the year. Inflation will exceed 4% in 2007. Because of higher inflation, real income growth is now expected to manage just 1% growth this year, down from our May forecast of 3%. The visitor arrivals forecast has been marked down to 1.5% growth this year (compared with our 2.8% forecast from May) based on poor Japanese-market performance.

The Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office (San Francisco) recently donated a copy of Hong Kong 2005, which is published by the Information Services Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government. The book is filled with Hong Kong facts, figures, maps, and color photos, including: the legal system, the economy, financial and monetary affiars, employment, travel and tourism, and history.