HONOLULU — The number of tourists to Hawaii declined 1.3 per cent last month from the same period last year to more than 730,000.

That’s according to monthly statistics from the Hawaii Tourism Authority, which also showed a 0.5 per cent drop in visitor spending August to $1.3 billion.

The authority notes June to September are typically slower months for Canadian visitors to Hawaii.

But the authority says Hawaii’s visitor industry continues to surpass last year’s record-breaking numbers in arrivals and spending.

For the first eight months of the year, arrivals increased 0.1 per cent to nearly 5.6 million, while spending increased 2 per cent to reach nearly $10 billion.

The authority says it will continue to expand efforts in developing markets such as the Asia Pacific region to balance declines from North America.