If ever there was a good-news, bad-news story in a statistical report, it's the one that emerges from the latest Hawai'i Tourism Authority visitor data for October.

Overall, the picture can't be called rosy, with a 1.7 percent drop in total arrivals for October over the same month period in 2008. Prospects for large bookings over the holiday season look dim, too.

However, a more positive message comes from the figures showing that arrivals from the West Coast — the bread-and-butter of the industry — have been relatively stable, even increasing recently. And because that's one of the focal points of the HTA sales efforts — a media campaign targeting major Mainland markets — it's a solid indication that the marketing strategy is working.

It also signals the need to maintain this thrust going into the 2010 legislative session, when lawmakers will confront immense pressure to siphon off any available cache of funds. It's pressure that should be resisted, because there's clearly much more work to be done if Hawai'i wants to prop up its cornerstone industry as an economic engine through the expected doldrums of the next year or more.

"There's no question — it's bittersweet," Marsha Wienert, the state's tourism liaison, said of the statistics, underscoring indicators that tourists are coming on the cheap. "Even with increases in numbers, we're not seeing increases in spending. I don't see where we're going to see that turnaround anytime soon."

The answer, said Wienert and state Senate tourism chairman Clarence Nishihara, is to stay the course where marketing is concerned. Persuading consumers rattled by recessionary uncertainties that Hawai'i remains a must-buy even now, and sustaining that draw into the economic recovery, takes a long-term investment.

"We've got to reposition ourselves as the destination worth the extra dollars," Wienert added — and she's right.

Even now, the HTA's budgeted $71 million for this effort is running dry because tax revenues are running behind projections. Contemplating further diversions of the tourist tax away from marketing would seem a shortsighted strategy for a state that needs its visitor industry to remain healthy.

When lawmakers confront the grim task of coping with widening revenue shortfalls in January, sharpening the focus on the state's priority duties is essential. And continuing to promote the virtues of a visit to the Islands needs to rank high on that list.