Aloha State News

HONOLULU – According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), a total of 842,927 visitors came to the Hawaiian Islands in June 2022, representing an 89 percent recovery from June 2019. Though the recovery rate in June was lower than the previous two months, the visitor count in June was the second best since January 2020. Visitors spent $1.83 billion in the state in June 2022, an increase of 12.3 percent compared to the $1.63 billion reported for June 2019. 

Visitor Spending and Visitor Arrivals by Major Market

Of the total visitors, 841,809 arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 1,118 visitors arrived by cruise ships. In comparison, 947,112 visitors (-11%) arrived by air (946,373 visitors, -11%) and by cruise ships (738 visitors, +51.5%) in June 2019. The average length of stay by all visitors in June 2022 was 9.44 days, up from 8.80 days (+7.2%) in June 2019.

The statewide average daily census[1] was 265,157 visitors in June 2022 compared to 277,930 visitors (-4.6%) in June 2019.

In June 2022, 498,358 visitors arrived by air from the U.S. West, an increase of 10 percent compared to 452,958 visitors in June 2019. U.S. West visitors spent $963.3 million in June 2022, up 39.4 percent from $691.2 million in June 2019. Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in June 2022 ($215 per person) was considerably higher compared to June 2019 ($171 per person, +25.9%).

There were 249,684 visitors from the U.S. East in June 2022, a 3.9 percent growth compared to the 240,223 visitors in June 2019. U.S. East visitors spent $662.5 million in June 2022, up 34.9 percent from $491.1 million in June 2019. Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in June 2022 ($260 per person) increased significantly in comparison to June 2019 ($210 per person, +24%).

There were 11,940 visitors from Japan in June 2022 compared to 126,592 visitors (-90.6%) in June 2019. Visitors from Japan spent $24.3 million in June 2022 compared to $182 million (-86.7%) in June 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in June 2022 ($244 per person) was slightly lower compared to June 2019 ($248 per person, -1.9%).

In June 2022, 15,634 visitors arrived from Canada compared to 19,172 visitors (-18.5%) in June 2019. Visitors from Canada spent $34.4 million in June 2022, compared to $36.1 million (-4.6%) in June 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in June 2022 ($196 per person) increased compared to June 2019 ($160 per person, +22.5%).

In June 2022, there were 66,193 visitors from All Other International Markets, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, Philippines and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 107,428 visitors (-38.4%) from All Other International Markets in June 2019.

In June 2022, a total of 5,069 trans-Pacific flights with 1,049,608 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, compared to 5,399 flights with 1,182,276 seats in June 2019.

Through the first half of 2022, total visitor spending was $9.23 billion, up 4.2 percent from $8.86 billion in the first half of 2019. A total of 4,431,332 visitors arrived in the first half of 2022 which was a decrease compared to the first half of 2019 at 5,171,182 visitors (-14.3%).

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Statement by DBEDT Director Mike McCartney:

In June 2022, visitor spend increased by 12.3 percent from June 2019 with lower visitor arrival numbers into the Hawaiian Islands.

We are seeing positive movement going into the second half of the year with the return of visitors from outside of the U.S. International travelers saw a 31.2 percent recovery during the first half of 2022 with arriving visitors from Japan at the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic, in June 2022, which represented a 9.4 percent recovery rate from the same month in 2019. For the first half of 2022, Japan visitor recovery was 4.8 percent. 12 more flights from Japan were added in June and more are expected in the next few months, which include direct flights into Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Ellison Onizuka Kona International airports.

We continue to be optimistic in the recovery of the visitor industry for the prosperity of our communities and businesses but know that with the reach of the Omircron’s new variant, the visitor industry’s healthy return can easily be impacted. Continuing to practice COVID safe health habits is foremost in keeping Hawai‘i economically robust.

Statement by HTA President and CEO John De Fries:

Average daily visitor spending in Hawai‘i increased significantly for the first half of 2022, in comparison to pre-pandemic 2019, with higher gains from the U.S. West, U.S. East and Canada markets.

This significant shift indicates our current visitors are spending substantially more on their Hawai‘i trip, counter to the misperception that we are seeing a lower-spending, budget traveler. Even with these higher-spending visitors, we must continue our efforts in destination management to ensure the balance of economic benefits with environmental and community wellbeing.

Original source can be found here.