VISITOR INDUSTRY DECLINED IN MAY 2024

News Release from DBEDT, June 27, 2024

HONOLULU—According to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), total visitor arrivals and total visitor spending in May 2024 declined compared to May 2023. There were 763,260 visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in May 2024, a decrease of 4.8 percent from the same month last year. Total visitor spending measured in nominal dollars was $1.62 billion, down 4.0 percent from May 2023. May 2024 total visitor arrivals represent a 90.1 percent recovery compared to pre-pandemic May 2019 and total visitor spending was higher than May 2019 ($1.41 billion, +14.6%).

In May 2024, 757,841 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 5,420 visitors came via out-of-state cruise ships. In comparison, 790,494 visitors (-4.1%) arrived by air and 11,075 visitors (-51.1%) came by cruise ships in May 2023, and 836,058 visitors (-9.4%) arrived by air and 11,338 visitors (-52.2%) came by cruise ships in May 2019. The average length of stay by all visitors in May 2024 was 8.51 days, compared to 8.71 days (-2.3%) in May 2023 and 8.37 days (+1.7%) in May 2019. The statewide average daily census¹ was 209,543 visitors in May 2024, compared to 225,210 visitors (-7.0%) in May 2023 and 228,768 visitors (-8.4%) in May 2019.

In May 2024, 403,981 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, down from May 2023 (431,983 visitors, -6.5%), but an increase from May 2019 (387,844 visitors, +4.2%). U.S. West visitor spending of $767.9 million declined from May 2023 ($815.1 million, -5.8%), but was much higher than May 2019 ($564.0 million, +36.1%). Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in May 2024 ($233 per person) increased compared to May 2023 ($229 per person, +1.7%) and was considerably more than May 2019 ($174 per person, +34.1%).

In May 2024, 209,711 visitors arrived from the U.S. East, a decline compared to May 2023 (217,981 visitors, -3.8%) but an increase from May 2019 (199,344 visitors, +5.2%). U.S. East visitor spending of $539.4 million decreased from May 2023 ($559.9 million, -3.7%), but was much higher than May 2019 ($392.4 million, +37.4%). Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in May 2024 ($274 per person) increased from May 2023 ($271 per person, +1.1%) and was significantly more than May 2019 ($211 per person, +29.9%).

There were 46,124 visitors from Japan in May 2024, which was up considerably from May 2023 (34,141 visitors, +35.1%), but continued to be much lower than May 2019 (113,226 visitors, -59.3%). Visitors from Japan spent $68.4 million in May 2024, compared to $54.3 million (+25.8%) in May 2023 and $162.4 million (-57.9%) in May 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in May 2024 ($237 per person) was lower than May 2023 ($241 per person, -1.7%) and May 2019 ($244 per person, -2.6%).

In May 2024, 20,301 visitors arrived from Canada, a decrease compared to May 2023 (23,179 visitors, -12.4%) and May 2019 (26,424 visitors, -23.2%). Visitors from Canada spent $44.6 million in May 2024, down from May 2023 ($52.8 million, -15.6%) and May 2019 ($48.3 million, -7.7%). Daily spending by Canadian visitors in May 2024 ($225 per person) increased from May 2023 ($216 per person, +3.7%) and was much higher than May 2019 ($170 per person, +32.0%).

There were 77,725 visitors from all other international markets in May 2024, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, the Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 83,210 visitors (-6.6%) from all other international markets in May 2023 and 109,220 visitors (-28.8%) in May 2019.

In May 2024, a total of 5,099 transpacific flights with 1,129,248 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, which was an increase compared to May 2023 (4,932 flights, +3.4% with 1,066,208 seats, +5.9%) and May 2019 (5,085 flights, +0.3% with 1,118,421 seats, +1.0%).

Year-to-Date 2024

A total of 3,908,307 visitors arrived in the first five months of 2024, which was a 4.1 percent decrease from 4,075,437 visitors in the first five months of 2023. Total arrivals declined 7.5 percent when compared to 4,224,071 visitors in the first five months of 2019.

In the first five months of 2024, total visitor spending was $8.35 billion, down from $8.78 billion (-4.9%) in the first five months of 2023, but higher than $7.23 billion (+15.6%) in the first five months of 2019.

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