The number of visitors arriving in Hawai'i tumbled in March for the 13th consecutive month, extending a slump in the state's No. 1 industry that also dragged down visitor spending.

Visitors arriving by air and cruise ships totaled 555,902, down 16.6 percent from March 2008, according to a report released yesterday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Spending by visitors arriving by air fell to $800.1 million, a decline of 24.4 percent, or $258.4 million, compared with March of last year. Average daily visitor spending fell to $163 per person from $180 per person in March 2008.

Arrivals from most major market areas fell, but there was one small bright spot. For the first time since May of last year, the number of visitors arriving by air from Japan rose slightly — by 0.6 percent.

At the 98-unit 'Ilima Hotel in Waikiki, assistant manager Laura LinKee said it's clear that the economy is down and it's taken deep discounts to keep people in hotel rooms.

"I think we're all doing whatever we can to make some changes," LinKee said. She said the hotel had slightly more rooms booked last month than the year before "but you look at the bottom-line figure and see that it's much lower than it was last year."

The hotel has cut employees' schedules to prevent layoffs: "Nobody's lost their jobs; nobody's lost their benefits," she said.

The 13 consecutive declines in visitor arrivals ranks the current slump among the worst tourism downturns on record.

Visitor arrivals fell for 18 out of 19 months from February 2001 through August 2002. That stretch included fallout from the Sept. 11 attacks. Only August 2001 showed an increase, of 2.3 percent.

And from April 1992 until January 1994 — a period that included a recession in California — Hawai'i experienced declining visitor arrivals in 19 out of 22 months.

State tourism liaison Marsha Wienert said last-minute bookings — just 30 to 45 days before arrival — is helping the industry survive.

"We're hopeful for this summer," Wienert said. She noted the number of Japanese honeymooners was up again 22 percent in March and 23 percent for the first quarter of the year.

Among the top four visitor markets, air arrivals from the U.S. West fell 22.7 percent while arrivals by air from the U.S. East decreased 20 percent compared with March 2008. Canadian air arrivals fell 3.8 percent from the same month last year.

Hawai'i Tourism Authority president and CEO Mike McCartney provided his first report to the state tourism agency at a monthly board meeting yesterday, just 17 days into the new job.

"I am hopeful that things are looking up," he said.

Meanwhile in Waikiki, LinKee said the hotel has updated its Web site with information in Korean and is marketing to Australia. And the hotel continues its emphasis on Hawaiian culture and community service.

"We just did the beach clean-up this last weekend," LinKee said. "I think those kinds of things help us all feel better."

Visitor days for air and cruise visitors in March 2009 were down 16.2 percent from March a year ago. The average length of stay by these visitors was 9.04 days, up slightly from 9 days last March.

Year-to-date, arrivals by air totaled 1.6 million, down 14.4 percent compared with the same period last year. The average daily spending was $170 per person, down from $179 per person from first quarter 2008.