No need to fret for the state of Hawaii tourism anymore.

Visitor numbers to the Aloha State dropped dramatically during the recession, and the state's tourism industry suffered another blow when an earthquake and tsunami in Japan last year stifled the flow of big-spending Japanese vacationers to the islands.

But tourism in Hawaii is rebounding fast, with the state welcoming nearly 7.3 million visitors in 2011. Although that is still short of the state's record year in 2006, officials expect continued growth this year.

Tourism statistics released Jan. 30 showed that the state's visitor count last year was up almost 4 percent over 2010. Better yet, vacationers spent $12.58 billion in 2011, a 15.6 percent increase over 2010 and the second-highest total in state history.

"We've seen a healthy demand for Hawaii globally," said Mike McCartney, president of the state-run Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Hawaii's tourism officials have helped their cause by promoting the islands to countries with surging economies, whose strong currency buys more in the U.S. As a result, Hawaii in 2011 drew 32 percent more tourists from Australia, nearly 30 percent more from China and 7 percent more visitors from Brazil compared with the year before, according to tourism officials.

"We moved toward a global marketing strategy," McCartney said. "We took our core and we took off on it."

Hawaii visitor numbers peaked in 2006 at almost 7.7 million. During the economic meltdown, tourists cut back on spending and visitor numbers to Hawaii plunged nearly 15 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. But things turned around as Hawaii's tourism numbers grew each year after that.

The western United States remains the greatest source of Hawaii's visitors, accounting for more than 35 percent of tourists, while the eastern U.S. generates 26 percent of the state's visitors. Japanese tourists made up about 17 percent of visitors last year, down from 18 percent in 2010. Canadian visitors are the next biggest group, representing about 7 percent of Hawaii's tourists, according to the tourism authority.

Many of those visitors are opening their wallets wide. The average visitor spent $1,727 per visit in 2011, up from $1,550 the year before, according to the authority.

To help draw new visitors, Hawaii's tourism authority spent about $6 million in 2011 to help airlines research and promote the most profitable routes to Hawaii. That is an increase from the $5 million the agency spent on airline routes in 2010.