Last year marked the first time numbers to the sainted islands of Hawaii dipped since 2003. Travel Weekly reports that the tourism people are spinning the result as a good thing. Like, Hawaii is freaking ecstatic that fewer people are coming, because those that are seem to be spending more. Translation: Give us your rich. (Hold your poor.)

In case you didn’t know this, readers, many destinations talk like this when you think you’re not listening. And that’s fine. Fewer, higher-spending visitors are less of a strain on local resources. Who wouldn’t want that? If you were running a destination, bet your life you would.

Except in the case of Hawaii, the tourism board appears to have smoked one too many funny-smelling cigarettes. The reported rise in daily visitor spending — up 2.5% in 2007 to $182 per person isn’t terribly significant, for one.

Also, if you want to find a reason for the rise, all you had to do was read the Honolulu papers on Friday. The Star Bulletin reported a record-setting 7.5 percent rise in room rates in 2007. This coincided with a 1.7 percent drop in occupancy. So much for that smaller, high-spending crowd baloney.

Incidentally, check out our guide to affordable romance in Hawaii, coming Tuesday in a week, just in time for Valentine’s. We’ve got scads of cool places to stay under $199/night. One of those clip n’ save sort of stories.