Is Being Married in Hawaii Losing Popularity?

In a recent preliminary report from the State of Hawaii Office of Status Monitoring regarding marriage statistics in Hawaii for the past three years, a trend is appearing that just maybe being married in Hawaii may be losing its popularity. I remember back in the early 90's when couples were excited to learn that they could come to Hawaii to be married... they didn't know that there was a growing industry catering to couples from all over the country and internationally in being married in Hawaii, Maui in particular. Maui dominated the "weddingmoon" scene - the idea of being married while honeymooning in at the same time. Hawaii has long been the number one honeymoon destination in the US, and Maui, known as "the best island in the world" for 13 years, has always led the way. Although the number of marriage licenses issued during the past three years has been steadily declining from 2004 to 2006. The question is why? Is Hawaii getting a bad rap from travel agents? It Hawaii pricing its self out of the honeymoon destination market? Countless large hotel chains have recently refurbished their hotels or are going time share. Construction in Hawaii, and Maui in particular, is up. Condos and high end residential housing are keeping construction companies busy, but who are the people who are buying these homes? The rich. The expanding number of millionaires who have the money to spend and don't care how much it costs to have a home in the islands. Many rich and famous movie stars have homes in Maui. Clint Eastwood's multimillion dollar home is just 10 minutes from my modest tract house. Oprah Windfrey has a huge property on the slopes of Haleakala, the dormant 10,000 foot volcano dominating Maui's skyline. Willie Nelson, Chris Cristopherson, Carol Burnett and Jim Neighbors have been long time residence in Maui. But I'm losing my train of thought, my question is why are fewer couples coming to Hawaii to be married? Have an opinion? Let us know.

See the Marriage License Statistics below:



MARRIAGES FOR THE COUNTY OF MAUI BY YEAR

..........2006 - 2005 - 2004
January....543....568....624
February...672....654....706
March......786....728....751
April......797....804....877
May.......1060...1159...1143
June.......943....899....905
July.......833....852....921
August.....774....890....878
September..971....965....949
October....943...1016...1025
November...642....746....661
December...318....551....580
Total.....9282...9832..10020


MARRIAGES FOR THE COUNTY OF MAUI BY RESIDENCY

Residency......2006 - 2005 - 2004
Resident/Other*.970....997...1008
Non-Resident...8312...8835...9012
Total..........9282...9832..10020

*only one (bride or groom) is a resident

TOTAL MARRIAGES FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII (ALL ISLANDS)

Year 2006 - 2005 - 2004
# of marriages statewide...27797..29272...28893


Information compiled from statistics from the State of Hawaii - Office of Health Status Monitoring - 2006 statistics are preliminary information.