You're right, but am I correct in that you are not elderly and you do not travel with young children?

Indonesia, Malaysia, & Asia are cheaper then Hawaii from the mainland (and much cheaper for Europeans to go to) and I personally love the countries in this region. However.... many American's are not comfortable travelling to such places and most feel more comfortable being / vacationing in another part of the USA then going to a foreign country. If it is a security issue, a language issue, a monetary issue, a medical issue, a vast majority of the people surveyed going to Hawaii said one of the reasons they were going there was because it was like going overseas on an exotic holiday but it was still part of the USA.

Obviously not all American's are like this (heck I'm American but I live overseas) and I'm trying not to generalize but that issue is a very important reason why many folks do end up going to Hawaii over other places no matter the costs involved, they will shorten their stay however. A large percentage of this are the elderly who know they will have access to US pharmacy's / hospitals etc..., and for people travelling with children (safety, security etc...). Another trend is people mixing business with holiday so that Hawaii has seen an influx in the corporate meeting / holiday get togethers and most do not go overseas for those type of events. Europeans / Australians / Asians etc... are more comfortable going to foreign countries then American's are, but American's are starting to catch up and do more international holiday destinations.

So Hawaii will always be a popular destination for the the US Mainlanders no matter the cost, I just hope they don't price themselves out of the market place. When air travel was exotic the island was exotic. Since air travel became second nature Hawaii is getting closer and closer to America and more and more people are starting to feel that Hawaii is not the exotic destination of choice.