June marked the start of the one of the hottest summer’s ever for Hawaii’s visitor industry, which saw arrivals and spending grow in every major category.

Total visitor spending in June rose by 20.4 percent to a record $1.2 billion, according to statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). The $207 million gain helped push spending during the first six months of the year to $7.1 billion, an increase of 21.4 percent.

An 11.5 percent rise in visitor arrivals and higher daily spending increases were behind the June spending increase. In June, the state welcomed a record 677,218 visitors. During the first six months, arrivals rose 10.2 percent to 3,932,266 visitors.

“Hawaii’s tourism economy is on pace to set a record-breaking year in 2012 with double digit increases in visitor arrivals and expenditures through June,” said HTA President and CEO Mike McCartney.

The positive momentum is expected to continue through the second half of the year as airlift to the Hawaiian Islands expands with additional service by Allegiant Travel, Asiana Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and international charter flights, McCartney said.

 Hawaii continues to receive a growing number of arrivals from North America and other major markets, supported by additional domestic and international airlift,” he said.

Arrivals from Hawaii’s top U.S. West market grew for the eighth consecutive month. Arrivals from this core market were up 4 percent from a year ago to 285,342 visitors. Likewise, U.S. West expenditures grew 9.8 percent to $410 million.

The number of visitors from the U.S. East, Hawaii’s second largest visitor market, grew for the tenth straight month. U.S. East arrivals rose 8.1 percent to 173,002 visitors. Spending by U.S. East visitors increased by 10.6 percent to $339 million.

Japanese arrivals, the state’s largest international market, grew 21.9 percent to 115,788 visitors. Spending by these visitors rose 31.4 percent to $219.1 million.

Canadian arrivals increased 3.4 percent to 16,705 visitors. Total Canadian visitor expenditures grew 14.9 percent to $30.1 million.

Arrivals from all other markets, which include Korea, China and Taiwan, grew by 39.6 percent to 86,381. Spending by these visitors also grew 58.9 percent to $219.5 million.