Hawaii visitor arrivals and spending was down in September

Year-to-date 2021

Through the first nine months of 2021, total visitor spending was $9.03 billion. This was a decrease of 32.1 percent from the $13.30 billion spent through the first nine months of 2019.

A total of 4,859,655 visitors (+119.8%) arrived in the first nine months of 2021, double the arrival count from a year ago. Total visitor arrivals were down 37.9 percent compared to the 7,828,965 visitors in the first nine months of 2019.

Statement by DBEDT Director Mike McCartney:

Year to date through September 2021, numbers show that Hawaii’s visitor arrivals are down by 38% (3.2 million) and visitor spending is down by 32% ($4.2 billion) compared to 2019 levels. Over the past 18 months we have learned and done many things that collectively changed the trajectory of Hawaii. We have shifted from fearing COVID-19 to respecting it, managing it and ultimately, living with it. Our actions to put public health before economic prosperity will start to pay dividends in the months to come. We now see positive signs that Hawaii’s visitor economy will begin to recover at an accelerated rate as we welcome our fully vaccinated international visitors. I am optimistic that we will end 2021 stronger and enter 2022 with solid momentum for growth. It will still be challenging at times, but I am confident Hawaii is ready, now more than ever, to be open for business.

Statement by Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO John De Fries:

The late summer surge of the delta variant continued to depress visitor spending and visitor arrivals in September, which had a negative impact on our state’s economy and more importantly, the health of our residents. However, despite the anticipated slowdown in fall travel we were encouraged to see the positive results from the U.S. West and U.S. East markets knowing how visitor spending translates into continued support for jobs in our community.