TOURISM INDUSTRY AFFECTED BY MAUI WILDFIRES IN AUGUST 2023

News Release from DBEDT, September 28, 2023

HONOLULU—According to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), a total of 769,163 visitors came to the Hawaiian Islands in August 2023, down 7.3 percent from August 2022. When compared to pre-pandemic 2019, the benchmark year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this represents an 83.0 percent recovery in total visitor arrivals from August 2019. As measured in nominal dollars, total visitor spending was $1.58 billion in August 2023, a decrease from August 2022 ($1.74 billion, -9.2%), but higher than August 2019 ($1.50 billion, +5.4%).

In August 2023, 766,023 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 3,140 visitors came via a single cruise ship. August is typically a slow month for out-of-state cruise ships to the islands and there were no visitor arrivals by cruise ships in 2022 or in 2019. There were 829,772 visitors who arrived by air (-7.7%) in August 2022 and 926,417 visitors who arrived by air (-17.3%) in August 2019. The average length of stay by all visitors in August 2023 was 8.67 days, compared to 9.04 days (-4.1%) in August 2022 and 8.46 days (+2.4%) in August 2019. The statewide average daily census ¹ was 215,020 visitors in August 2023, compared to 241,908 visitors (-11.1%) in August 2022 and 252,916 visitors (-15.0%) in August 2019.

Days after the devastating Lahaina wildfires on August 8, 2023, government officials strongly discouraged non-essential travel to West Maui. This messaging may have impacted travel to other islands. In August 2023, visitor arrivals to Oahu (507,702 visitors, +11.0%), Hawaii Island (152,951, +4.1%) and Kauai (131,628 visitors, +9.0%) increased while visitor arrivals to Maui (112,259 visitors, -57.8%) dropped significantly compared to August 2022.

In August 2023, 392,427 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, which was a decrease from August 2022 (467,082 visitors, -16.0%) and August 2019 (420,750 visitors, -6.7%). U.S. West visitor spending of $703.0 million declined from August 2022 ($860.9 million, -18.3%) but was higher than August 2019 ($579.3 million, +21.3%). Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in August 2023 ($219 per person) was less than August 2022 ($223 per person, -1.9%) but considerably more than August 2019 ($167 per person, +30.7%).

In August 2023, arrivals from the U.S. East of 183,175 visitors were down compared to August 2022 (217,258 visitors, -15.7%) and August 2019 (199,659 visitors, -8.3%). U.S. East visitor spending of $443.6 million declined from August 2022 ($528.8 million, -16.1%) but increased compared to August 2019 ($379.1 million, +17.0%). Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in August 2023 ($254 per person) was comparable to August 2022 ($253 per person, +0.4%) and was much higher than August 2019 ($206 per person, +23.6%).

There were 64,155 visitors from Japan in August 2023, which was an increase compared to August 2022 (31,151 visitors, +105.9%) but significantly lower than August 2019 (160,728 visitors, -60.1%). Visitors from Japan spent $101.4 million in August 2023, compared to $61.5 million (+64.8%) in August 2022 and $236.9 million (-57.2%) in August 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in August 2023 ($231 per person) decreased compared to August 2022 ($240 per person, -4.1%) but was slightly more than August 2019 ($228 per person, +0.9%).

There were 22,675 visitors from Canada in August 2023, which was a decrease compared to August 2022 (28,667 visitors, -20.9%) and August 2019 (28,672 visitors, -20.9%). Visitors from Canada spent $56.3 million in August 2023, compared to $63.9 million (-11.8%) in August 2022 and $57.2 million (-1.5%) in August 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in August 2023 ($226 per person) increased compared to August 2022 ($193 per person, +16.7%) and August 2019 ($178 per person, +26.7%).

There were 103,589 visitors from all other international markets in August 2023, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 85,614 visitors (+21.0%) from all other international markets in August 2022 and 116,608 visitors (-11.2%) in August 2019.

In August 2023, a total of 5,194 transpacific flights with 1,138,175 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, compared to 5,350 flights (-2.9%) with 1,142,106 seats (-0.3%) in August 2022 and 5,469 flights (-5.0%) with 1,212,926 seats (-6.2%) in August 2019.

Year-to-Date 2023

In the first eight months of 2023, total visitor spending was $14.41 billion, up from $13.10 billion (+10.1%) in the first eight months of 2022 and from $12.06 billion (+19.6%) in the first eight months of 2019.

A total of 6,666,587 visitors arrived to the state in the first eight months of 2023, an increase of 8.0 percent from 6,170,921 visitors in the first eight months of 2022. Total arrivals declined 6.0 percent when compared to 7,092,809 visitors in the first eight months of 2019.

Other Highlights

U.S. West: In August 2023, 328,392 visitors arrived from the Pacific region, a decrease of 15.9 percent from August 2022. There were fewer visitors from California (250,492, -17.9%), Washington (51,838, -8.8%) and Oregon (22,109, -15.2%), which offset growth in arrivals from Alaska (3,953, +58.1%). Arrivals from the Mountain region (63,933 visitors, -16.2%) also declined compared to August 2022.

Most U.S. West visitors in August 2023 had been to Hawaii before (78.8%) while 21.2 percent were first-time visitors. In terms of accommodations, 54.8 percent of U.S. West visitors in August 2023 stayed in hotels, 14.2 percent stayed in condominiums, 12.5 percent stayed with friends and relatives, 12.4 percent stayed in rental homes and 8.1 percent stayed in timeshares.

In the first eight months of 2023, there were 3,502,473 visitors from the U.S. West, compared to 3,613,478 visitors (-3.1%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 3,141,739 visitors (+11.5%) in the first eight months of 2019.

U.S. West visitors spent $6.75 billion in the first eight months of 2023, compared to $6.79 billion (-0.6%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $4.69 billion (+44.2%) in the first eight months of 2019. The average daily visitor spending in the first eight months of 2023 was $227 per person, a moderate increase from $219 per person (+3.8%) in the first eight months of 2022 but up considerably from $173 per person (+31.3%) in the first eight months of 2019.

U.S. East: In August 2023, there were fewer arrivals from the South Atlantic (44,445 visitors, -13.3%), West South Central (38,467 visitors, -10.8%), Mid Atlantic (35,282 visitors, -22.1%), East North Central (29,115 visitors, -14.9%), West North Central (15,692 visitors, -15.5%), New England (12,593, -22.5%) and East South Central (7,501 visitors, -11.6%) regions compared to August 2022.

More than half of U.S. East visitors in August 2023 had been to Hawaii before (56.1%) while 43.9 percent were first-time visitors. In terms of lodging, 60.5 percent of the U.S. East visitors in August 2023 stayed in hotels, 12.7 percent stayed with friends and relatives, 12.3 percent stayed in rental homes, 11.2 percent stayed in condominiums and 6.9 percent stayed in timeshares.

In the first eight months of 2023, 1,746,568 visitors arrived from the U.S. East, compared to 1,728,431 (+1.0%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 1,629,517 visitors (+7.2%) in the first eight months of 2019.

U.S. East visitors spent $4.50 billion in the first eight months of 2023, compared to $4.30 billion (+4.6%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $3.30 billion (+36.3%) in the first eight months of 2019. Daily visitor spending in the first eight months of 2023 increased to $263 per person, compared to $251 per person (+5.1%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $209 per person (+25.9%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Japan: Of the 64,155 visitors in August 2023, 63,139 arrived on international flights and 1,016 came on domestic flights. Eight out of 10 Japanese visitors in August 2023 were repeat visitors (81.2%) while 18.8 percent were first-time visitors to the islands. In terms of lodging, 65.5 percent of the Japanese visitors in August 2023 stayed in hotels, 19.8 percent stayed in condominiums, 18.2 percent stayed in timeshares and 1.9 percent stayed with friends and relatives.

In the first eight months of 2023, there were 331,286 visitors from Japan, compared to 79,950 visitors (+314.4%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 1,029,549 visitors (-67.8%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Visitors from Japan spent $528.9 million in the first eight months of 2023, compared to $169.2 million (+212.6%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $1.46 billion (-63.7%) in the first eight months of 2019. Daily visitor spending in the first eight months of 2023 was $236 per person, compared to $238 per person (-0.6%) in the first eight months of 2022 and also $238 per person (-0.6%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Canada: Of the 22,675 visitors in August 2023, 12,966 visitors arrived via direct air service from Canada and 9,709 visitors came on domestic flights. More than half of Canadian visitors in August 2023 were first-time visitors (54.9%) while 45.1 percent have been to Hawaii before. In terms of lodging, 58.0 percent of Canadian visitors in August 2023 stayed in hotels, 24.1 percent stayed in condominiums, 15.0 percent stayed in rental homes, 6.2 percent stayed with friends and relatives and 6.0 percent stayed in timeshares.

In the first eight months of 2023, there were 307,219 visitors from Canada, compared to 250,385 visitors (+22.7%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 371,146 visitors (-17.2%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Visitors from Canada spent $782.5 million in the first eight months of 2023, compared to $576.6 million (+35.7%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $750.1 million (+4.3%) in the first eight months of 2019. Daily visitor spending in the first eight months of 2023 increased to $218 per person, from $184 per person (+18.2%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $166 per person (+30.9%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Island Highlights

Oahu: There were 507,702 visitors to Oahu in August 2023, compared to 457,271 visitors (+11.0%) in August 2022 and 575,070 visitors (-11.7%) in August 2019. Visitor spending was $847.1 million in August 2023 compared to $813.5 million (+4.1%) in August 2022 and $732.0 million (+15.7%) in August 2019. The average daily census on Oahu was 117,364 visitors in August 2023, compared to 110,394 visitors (+6.3%) in August 2022 and 126,206 visitors (-7.0%) in August 2019.

In the first eight months of 2023, there were 3,779,257 visitors to Oahu, compared to 3,204,080 visitors (+18.0%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 4,199,292 visitors (-10.0%) in the first eight months of 2019. For the first eight months of 2023, total visitor spending was $6.12 billion, up from $5.71 billion (+7.2%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $5.51 billion (+11.2%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Maui: In August 2023, 88 direct transpacific flights to Kahului were canceled due to the Lahaina wildfires (68 flights from the U.S. West, 7 flights from the U.S. East and 13 flights from Canada). Arrivals by air service to Maui of 112,259 visitors was less than half the volume of August 2022 (266,176 visitors, -57.8%) and August 2019 (273,638 visitors, -59.0%). Visitor spending on Maui was $246.7 million in August 2023, significantly lower than August 2022 ($484.0 million, -49.0%) and August 2019 ($404.7 million, -39.0%). The average daily census on Maui was 28,671 visitors in August 2023, compared to 65,473 visitors (-56.2%) in August 2022 and 64,553 visitors (-55.6%) in August 2019.

In the first eight months of 2023, there were 1,891,697 visitors to Maui, compared to 1,979,520 visitors (-4.4%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 2,104,005 visitors (-10.1%) in the first eight months of 2019. For the first eight months of 2023, total visitor spending was $4.34 billion, compared to $3.92 billion (+10.7%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $3.52 billion (+23.5%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Kauai: There were 131,628 visitors to Kauai in August 2023, compared to 120,808 visitors (+9.0%) in August 2022 and 120,030 visitors (+9.7%) in August 2019. Visitor spending was $229.3 million in August 2023, compared to $195.5 million in August 2022 (+17.3%) and $159.0 million (+44.2%) in August 2019. The average daily census on Kauai was 30,526 visitors in August 2023, compared to 28,743 visitors (+6.2%) in August 2022 and 26,865 visitors (+13.6%) in August 2019.

In the first eight months of 2023, there were 965,016 visitors to Kauai, compared to 907,780 visitors (+6.3%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 945,726 visitors (+2.0%) in the first eight months of 2019. For the first eight months of 2023, total visitor spending was $1.83 billion, compared to $1.52 billion (+20.4%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $1.32 billion (+37.8%) in the first eight months of 2019.

Hawaii Island: There were 152,951 visitors to Hawaii Island in August 2023, compared to 146,973 visitors (+4.1%) in August 2022 and 157,544 visitors (-2.9%) in August 2019. Visitor spending was $244.6 million in August 2023, compared to $236.1 million (+3.6%) in August 2022 and $193.1 million (+26.7%) in August 2019. The average daily census on Hawaii Island was 36,693 visitors in August 2023, compared to 35,985 visitors (+2.0%) in August 2022 and 33,989 visitors (+8.0%) in August 2019.

In the first eight months of 2023, there were 1,205,394 visitors to Hawaii Island, compared to 1,120,480 visitors (+7.6%) in the first eight months of 2022 and 1,211,805 visitors (-0.5%) in the first eight months of 2019. For the first eight months of 2023, total visitor spending was $1.94 billion, compared to $1.81 billion (+7.6%) in the first eight months of 2022 and $1.57 billion (+23.7%) in the first eight months of 2019.

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