Visitor arrivals to Hawaii will decline by 3 percent this year, twice as much as previously projected, in part because of the shutdown of Aloha Airlines and ATA, according to the quarterly economic report released by the state of Hawaii on Monday.

The quarterly economic report from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism expects moderate to slower growth for Hawaii this year, and in 2009.

“We believe that our economy will adjust to recent economic events and that our fundamental economic foundation remains strong,” director Theodore E. Liu said in a statement.

DBEDT had previously forecast visitor arrivals to decline by 1.4 percent, but now expects that figure to be 3 percent. The agency forecasts no growth in 2009, followed by 1.4 percent growth in 2010 and 1.7 percent growth in 2011. The shutdown of the two airlines, coupled with the departure of two cruise ships, were cited by the department as the primary causes for the decline in visitor numbers.

Visitor days, which are the number of arrivals times the length of stay, are forecast to drop 2.4 percent this year, after a 1.5 percent decline in 2007, and are expected to remain flat in 2009 before starting to recover in 2010 and 2011.

Visitor expenditures are projected to remain flat this year, with less then 1 percent growth, before rebounding in 2009 with 3.6 percent growth, followed by 4.4 percent growth in 2010 and 4.7 percent growth in 2011.