U.S. VISITORS CONTINUED SURPASSING 2019 LEVEL IN MAY

News Release from DBEDT, June 29, 2023  (excerpt)

HONOLULU—According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), a total of 801,569 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in May 2023, a 3.2 percent increase from May 2022. When compared to 2019, the benchmark year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this represents a 94.6 percent recovery in total visitor arrivals from May 2019. As measured in nominal dollars, these visitors spent $1.69 billion in May 2023, which was higher than $1.56 billion (+7.9%) in May 2022 and $1.41 billion (+19.4%) in May 2019.

In May 2023, 790,494 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 11,075 visitors arrived by cruise ships during the month. In May 2022, 774,144 visitors arrived by air (+2.1%) and 2,231 visitors came by cruise ships (+396.4%). In May 2019, 836,058 visitors arrived by air (-5.4%) and 11,338 visitors came by cruise ships (-2.3%). The average length of stay by all visitors in May 2023 was 8.71 days, compared to 8.87 days (-1.8%) in May 2022 and 8.37 days (+4.1%) in May 2019. The statewide average daily census¹ was 225,210 visitors in May 2023, compared to 222,071 visitors (+1.4%) in May 2022 and 228,768 visitors (-1.6%) in May 2019.

In May 2023, 431,983 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, which was down from May 2022 (453,989 visitors, -4.8%) but an increase compared to May 2019 (387,844 visitors, +11.4%). U.S. West visitor spending of $815.1 million in May 2023 was higher compared to May 2022 ($782.7 million, +4.1%) and May 2019 ($564.0 million, +44.5%). Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in May 2023 ($229 per person) was up moderately from May 2022 ($206 per person, +11.1%) but was significantly more than May 2019 ($174 per person, +31.8%).

There were 217,981 visitors from the U.S. East in May 2023, a decrease from May 2022 (222,144 visitors, -1.9%) but higher than May 2019 (199,344 visitors, +9.3%). U.S. East visitor spending increased to $559.9 million in May 2023, compared to $550.3 million (+1.8%) in May 2022 and $392.4 million (+42.7%) in May 2019. Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in May 2023 ($271 per person) increased in comparison to May 2022 ($259 per person, +4.9%) and was considerably higher than May 2019 ($211 per person, +28.5%).

There were 34,141 visitors from Japan in May 2023, compared to 7,167 visitors (+376.3%) in May 2022 and 113,226 visitors (-69.8%) in May 2019. Visitors from Japan spent $54.3 million in May 2023, compared to $15.6 million (+249.1%) in May 2022 and $162.4 million (-66.5%) in May 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in May 2023 ($241 per person) decreased slightly compared to May 2022 ($245 per person, -1.3%) and May 2019 ($244 per person, -0.9%).

In May 2023, 23,179 visitors arrived from Canada, compared to 25,320 visitors (-8.5%) in May 2022 and 26,424 visitors (-12.3%) in May 2019. Visitors from Canada spent $52.8 million in May 2023, compared to $55.4 million (-4.7%) in May 2022 and $48.3 million (+9.4%) in May 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in May 2023 ($216 per person) increased compared to May 2022 ($204 per person, +6.0%) and was substantially more than May 2019 ($170 per person, +27.3%).

There were 83,210 visitors from All Other International Markets in May 2023, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 65,523 visitors (+27.0%) from All Other International Markets in May 2022 and 109,220 visitors (-23.8%) in May 2019.

In May 2023, a total of 4,926 trans-Pacific flights with 1,065,692 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, compared to 5,049 flights (-2.4%) with 1,039,362 seats (+2.5%) in May 2022, and 5,085 flights (-3.1%) with 1,118,421 seats (-4.7%) in May 2019.

Year-to-Date 2023

In the first five months of 2023, total visitor spending was $8.78 billion, up significantly from $7.39 billion (+18.8%) in the first five months of 2022 and from $7.23 billion (+21.5%) in the first five months of 2019.

A total of 4,075,437 visitors arrived in the first five months of 2023, representing 13.6 percent growth from 3,588,405 visitors in the first five months of 2022. Total arrivals decreased 3.5 percent when compared to 4,224,071 visitors in the first five months of 2019.

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