The Maui News - According to state tourism officials, Maui County barely topped 200,000 visitors in July 2008, a drop of 22 percent from July of last year. “Prior to June and July, Hawai‘i’s visitor market had managed to weather the softness that was being felt by other travel destinations as a result of the slowing national economy,” said State Tourism Liaison Marsha Wienert. The closures of Aloha and ATA airlines had an obvious impact, but Wienert said the withdrawal of two Norwegian Cruise Line ships were nearly as damaging. Although Maui’s Canadian visitors have jumped more than 10 percent this year, the county’s visitor market is predominantly domestic. In July, domestic arrivals outnumbered international by 179,911 to 18,209. International arrivals held up better, but despite the contribution of Canadians, they still were down 13.8 percent. The complete report is at www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/visitors-stats/visitor-research.