A RECORD 8.3 MILLION VISITORS CAME TO HAWAII IN 2014

TOTAL VISITOR EXPENDITURES GREW TO $14.7 BILLION

News Release from HTA January 29, 2015

HONOLULU – A total of 8,282,680 visitors came to the Hawaiian Islands in 2014, exceeding the 2013 record of 8,174,461 visitors by 1.3 percent, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. Annual 2014 total visitor expenditures1 grew 2.3 percent to $14.7 billion. On average, 205,044 visitors were in the state on any given day in 2014 (average daily census), an increase of 1.1 percent from 2013.

For the month of December 2014, total visitor expenditures rose 3 percent (+$41.5 million) to $1.4 billion, boosted by a 6.2 percent growth in total arrivals (to 765,267 visitors). The average daily spending of $191 per person was down from $195 per person in December 2013.

Annual 2014 Highlights: 

Arrivals by air from the U.S. West rebounded in the second half of 2014 after 11 previous months of losses. In 2014, U.S. West arrivals grew 1.4 percent to 3,256,628 visitors. Combined with higher daily spending (+2.7% to $161 per person), total expenditures by U.S. West visitors rose 3.2 percent to $5 billion. 

Growth in U.S. East arrivals (+1.1% to 1,719,798 visitors) and increased daily spending (+3.3% to $205 per person) led to a 4.1 percent gain in total visitor expenditures to $3.7 billion in 2014. 

A shorter average length of stay (-2.3% to 5.80 days) among the 1,510,938 Japanese visitors who arrived (-0.5%) in 2014 contributed to a 2.9 percent drop in visitor expenditures to $2.4 billion. 

Arrivals from Canada rose 1.3 percent to 523,534 visitors and expenditures totaled $1.1 billion (-0.5%) in 2014. Average daily spending by these visitors ($160 per person) was lower compared to 2013 ($164 per person). 

Among the smaller visitor markets, there was growth in arrivals from Oceania (+5.9% to 376,704), Other Asia (+8.5% to 363,528) and Europe (+4.6% to 143,132), while arrivals from Latin America (+0.1% to 30,303 visitors) were similar to 2013 (see page 6). Combined expenditures by these visitors rose 5.3 percent to $2.6 billion. 

A total of 123,071 visitors came by cruise ships in 2014, down 28 percent from the previous year (see page 6). 

Visitor expenditures on O‘ahu declined (-3.4% to $7.1 billion) even though arrivals rose 2.3 percent to 5,159,078 visitors. Maui showed growth in both visitor expenditures (+11.6% to $4.1 billion) and arrivals (+1.6% to 2,397,307 visitors) compared to 2013. Expenditures on Hawai‘i Island (+5.6% to $1.9 billion; +0.7% to 1,445,939 visitors) and Kaua‘i (+5.4% to $1.5 billion; -0.1% to 1,113,605 visitors) increased despite relatively flat growth in arrivals.

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