VISITOR INDUSTRY CONTINUED RECOVERY IN JANUARY 2023

News  Release from DBEDT, Feb 28, 2023

HONOLULU – According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), a total of 791,781 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in January 2023, up 37.9 percent from January 2022. When compared to 2019, the benchmark year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this represents a 96.8 percent recovery in total visitor arrivals from January 2019. As measured in nominal dollars, these visitors spent $1.89 billion in January 2023, compared to $1.40 billion (+35.5%) in January 2022 and $1.62 billion (+17.2%) January 2019.

In January 2023, 775,132 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 16,648 visitors arrived by cruise ships during the month. In January 2022, 567,179 visitors arrived by air (+36.7%) and 7,004 visitors came by cruise ships (+137.7%). In January 2019, 805,567 visitors arrived by air (-3.8%) and 12,033 visitors came by cruise ships (+38.4%). The average length of stay by all visitors in January 2023 was 10.16 days, compared to 10.91 days (-6.9%) in January 2022 and 9.94 days (+2.2%) in January 2019. The statewide average daily census[1] was 259,514 visitors in January 2023, compared to 202,071 visitors (+28.4%) in January 2022 and 262,235 visitors (-1.0%) in January 2019.

In January 2023, 383,351 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, compared to 326,496 (+17.4%) in January 2022 and 317,655 visitors (+20.7%) in January 2019. U.S. West visitors spent $804.4 million in January 2023, compared to $705.6 million (+14.0%) in January 2022 and $556.7 million (+44.5%) in January 2019. Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in January 2023 ($222 per person) was similar to January 2022 ($221 per person, +0.3%), but was much higher than January 2019 ($180 per person, +23.2%).

There were 213,286 visitors from the U.S. East in January 2023, compared to 183,964 visitors (+15.9%) in January 2022 and 185,253 visitors (+15.1%) in January 2019. U.S. East visitors spent $618.9 million in January 2023, compared to $529.4 million (+16.9%) in January 2022 and $462.9 million (+33.7%) in January 2019. Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in January 2023 ($255 per person) increased in comparison to January 2022 ($242 per person, +5.6%) and January 2019 ($216 per person, +17.9%).

There were 32,305 visitors from Japan in January 2023, compared to 2,850 visitors (+1,033.6%) in January 2022 and 120,418 visitors (-73.2%) in January 2019. Visitors from Japan spent $58.1 million in January 2023, compared to $11.6 million (+401.1%) in January 2022 and $173.4 million (-66.5%) in January 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in January 2023 ($237 per person) increased compared to January 2022 ($216 per person, +9.7%), but was slightly lower than January 2019 ($240 per person, -1.0%).

In January 2023, 56,501 visitors arrived from Canada, compared to 23,551 visitors (+139.9%) in January 2022 and 69,687 visitors (-18.9%) in January 2019. Visitors from Canada spent $154.4 million in January 2023, compared to $69.5 million (+122.2%) in January 2022 and $165.4 million (-6.7%) in January 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in January 2023 ($206 per person) increased significantly, compared to January 2022 ($178 per person, +15.3%) and January 2019 ($167 per person, +23.3%).

In January 2023, there were 89,689 visitors from All Other International Markets, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 30,318 visitors (+195.8%) from All Other International Markets in January 2022 and 112,554 visitors (-20.3%) in January 2019.

In January 2023, a total of 5,335 trans-Pacific flights with 1,182,832 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands. This was an increase compared to 4,943 flights (+7.9%) with 1,036,920 seats (+4.1%) in January 2022, and from 5,158 flights (+3.4%) with 1,134,182 (+4.3%) in January 2019.

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Statement by DBEDT Director Chris J. Sadayasu:

The tourism industry had a good start in 2023 with nearly a 97 percent recovery in arrivals. International visitors by air in January 2023 accounted for 23 percent of the total visitors by air – the highest since the start of the pandemic. January 2023 was the second-best month for arrivals from Japan and Canada for 34 months. The same was true for cruise ship arrivals during the month.

With the recovery of tourism, especially international tourism, those businesses that rely on international visitors will experience a better year in 2023, although full recovery may take a few years.

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