Record numbers of tourists come to Hawaii in 2012

HONOLULU (AP) — A recovering global economy, strong yen, stable oil prices, more flights and marketing campaigns helped bring a record number of tourists to Hawaii last year, the Hawaii Tourism Authority said Thursday.

Nearly 8 million travelers — 7,998,815, to be exact — visited the islands in 2012. That’s an increase of nearly 10 percent over the previous year. It also breaks the previous record of 7.6 million visitors marked in 2006, before the financial crisis and recession encouraged travelers to stay home.