Fresh off its prime-time exposure in Sunday’s NFL Pro Bowl, Hawaii has another reason to bask in the sun: Newly compiled figures show the number of visitors to the Aloha State rebounded in 2011 to its highest level since 2007.

State estimates being released Monday show the number of visitors to Hawaii rose 3.8% to 7.28 million from 7.02 million in 2010, amid increases in most of the islands’ major markets. A 2.3% increase in visitors from the U.S., along with double-digit percentage gains from markets such as Canada and Australia, helped offset a 5% decline in visitors from Japan, which suffered a devastating earthquake and tsunami last March, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

Visitor spending was up 15.6% last year to $12.58 billion, just shy of the record $12.63 billion in 2007. The recent surge in tourism, which accounts for as much as 40% of the state’s economy, stands to brighten Hawaii’s economic outlook as it emerges from one of its worst downturns in decades, government officials here said.