By mid August, Hawaii's 2008 arrivals by air will hit 5-million, but last year we passed that milestone on the first day of July. And tourism downturn continues to take its toll on jobs.

Employees of Musashi in the Hyatt Regency Waikiki are the latest to be told that lack of visitor spending will force the restaurant to close in a few weeks. The ILWU told the Maui News it has informal layoff notices from more than a dozen hotels.

A three-year comparison of arrivals by air for the first seven months shows we're short about 300-thousand visitors even after dialing out returning locals, which typically make up 13% of the total arrivals figures. International arrivals are down about 8%.

Arrivals from the mainland are still up on Kauai, but down from 17 to 22 percent to the other islands. This look at the first week of August shows the actual arrival shortfall. It can't be blamed on the Aloha and ATA failures because airlift is down more than capacity is.

The Tourism Authority meets tomorrow and ordinarily would brainstorm for ideas to lure more visitors. Instead, it will debate the fate of CEO Rex Johnson, whose x-rated emails were reported by an auditor.

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