VISITOR ARRIVALS AND VISITOR SPENDING CONTINUED TO DECLINE IN MARCH 2024

News release from DBEDT, April 30, 2024

HONOLULU – According to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), total visitor arrivals and total visitor spending in March 2024 declined in comparison to March 2023. There were 855,537 visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in March 2024, down 5.0 percent from a year ago. Total visitor spending measured in nominal dollars was $1.76 billion, which was a drop of 4.2 percent compared to March 2023. When compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, March 2024 total visitor arrivals represent a 92.1 percent recovery from March 2019 and total visitor spending was higher than March 2019 ($1.49 billion, +18.2%).

In March 2024, 843,519 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 12,018 visitors came via out-of-state cruise ships. In comparison, 892,239 visitors (-5.5%) arrived by air and 8,561 visitors (+40.4%) came by cruise ships in March 2023, and 917,026 visitors (-8.0%) arrived by air and 11,824 visitors (+1.6%) came by cruise ships in March 2019. The average length of stay by all visitors in March 2024 was 8.49 days, compared to 8.69 days (-2.3%) in March 2023 and 8.36 days (+1.5%) in March 2019. The statewide average daily census[1] was 234,306 visitors in March 2024, compared to 252,633 visitors (-7.3%) in March 2023 and 250,528 visitors (-6.5%) in March 2019.

In March 2024, 421,731 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, down from March 2023 (464,295 visitors, -9.2%), but an increase compared to March 2019 (399,049 visitors, +5.7%). U.S. West visitor spending of $801.1 million decreased from March 2023 ($838.5 million, -4.5%), but was much higher than March 2019 ($578.1 million, +38.6%). Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in March 2024 ($232 per person) increased compared to March 2023 ($220 per person, +5.4%) and was considerably more than March 2019 ($176 per person, +32.1%).

In March 2024, arrivals from the U.S. East of 223,494 visitors declined compared to March 2023 (245,466 visitors, -9.0%) and from March 2019 (225,648 visitors, -1.0%). U.S. East visitor spending of $526.5 million decreased from March 2023 ($577.3 million, -8.8%), but was significantly higher than in March 2019 ($404.5 million, +30.2%). Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in March 2024 ($261 per person) was up from March 2023 ($257 per person, +1.3%) and was considerably more than in March 2019 ($201 per person, +29.5%).

There were 62,912 visitors from Japan in March 2024, which was up significantly compared to March 2023 (40,039 visitors, +57.1%), but still much lower than March 2019 (133,858 visitors, -53.0%). Visitors from Japan spent $92.1 million in March 2024, compared to $61.3 million (+50.2%) in March 2023 and $185.2 million (-50.2%) in March 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in March 2024 ($238 per person) was more than March 2023 ($232 per person, +2.5%) and was unchanged from March 2019 ($238 per person, 0.0%).

In March 2024, 59,101 visitors arrived from Canada, a decrease in comparison to March 2023 (64,377 visitors, -8.2%) and March 2019 (76,913 visitors, -23.2%). Visitors from Canada spent $139.0 million in March 2024, which was a significant drop from March 2023 ($162.4 million,
-14.4%) and down slightly from March 2019 ($139.8 million, -0.6%). Daily spending by Canadian visitors in March 2024 ($210 per person) declined from March 2023 ($213 per person, -1.6%), but was much higher than March 2019 ($158 per person, +33.2%).

There were 76,281 visitors from all other international markets in March 2024, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 78,062 visitors (-2.3%) from all other international markets in March 2023 and 81,558 visitors (-6.5%) in March 2019.

In March 2024, a total of 5,316 transpacific flights with 1,181,869 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, down from 5,438 flights (-2.2%) with 1,200,084 seats (-1.5%) in March 2023, and 5,445 flights (-2.4%) with 1,192,137 seats (-0.9%) in March 2019.

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Statement by DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka:

U.S. visitor arrivals in March 2024 were the highest since August 2023 and 3.3 percent higher than the arrivals of March 2019. The total visitor arrivals to Maui at 206,049 in March 2024 were the highest since the Maui wildfires. More than 75 percent of the Maui visitor industry recovered as of March 2024 when compared with pre-wildfire figures.

The recovery from the Japanese market this March, compared with the same month in 2019, was 47 percent which is the third highest since the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are pleased to see that the cruise industry continued to grow in March 2024 with arrivals aboard out-of-state cruise ships  increasing 23.6 percent during the first quarter of this year.

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