Last updated on October 11th, 2020 at 01:25 pm
For the first time ever, Hawaii saw more than 10 million visitors last year. And while more visitors are usually a good thing for a tourism economy, in this case, things aren’t so black and white.
The Numbers
Last year, over 10.4 million visitors came to the islands. That’s a 5% increase over 2018 visitor numbers of just under 9.9 million, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Despite the uptick in arrivals, though, visitor spending barely increased – going up by only 1% to $17.8 billion.
Where Visitors Came From
The boost in visitors came from well-established markets for Hawaii. Of course, the U.S. West Coast remains Hawaii’s top source of visitors, followed by the U.S. East Cost. Japan remains Hawaii’s top international source of visitors. Outside of those three markets, though, visitor arrivals fell. This includes the Canadian market and “other” which encompasses the rest of the world.
It’s interesting to note that, while visitor arrivals were up 5% for the year, available air seats only increased by 3%. Further, air seat growth came solely from the U.S. All other markets saw declines in available air seats. I found that surprising, though, as ANA up gauged its aircraft from 787s to 777s and A380s. But, Scoot did stop flying to Hawaii last year, so that probably didn’t help.
Island-Specific Performance
Given the state of hotel pricing on those two islands, it comes as no surprise that visitor arrivals and spending were up for both Oahu and Maui. Hawaii Island saw more arrivals last year too, though spending decreased on that island. And, much like with hotel pricing trends, Kauai finished last seeing decreases in both arrivals and spending.
Hawaii Saw More Than 10 Million Visitors Last Year, Final Thoughts
It’s great that more visitors are coming to and enjoying the islands. But, with the trend of decreasing spending, increasing visitor arrival numbers aren’t sustainable. The crush of visitors, especially those that spend very little while here, are overburdening our infrastructure. Spending must increase in-line with arrivals or Hawaii and its residents will suffer dire consequences. And with more visitors than ever in the islands, it’s worth reminding that Hawaii is home to nearly 1.5 million residents. Please remember to be respectful of all laws, cultural norms, and the environment here. There’s a lot of things that are completely different from travel on the continental US.
Hawaii is a fantastic place to visit and have a good time, but at the end of the day, it’s still our home.