February visitor arrivals to Hawaii were still about 24% lower than the same month in pre-pandemic times, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Domestic visitor arrivals continued to outpace February 2020, the month before Hawaii detected its first case of COVID-19 on March 6. However, a lack of international visitors arrivals continued to keep the market from rising to the level that it was experiencing before the pandemic.

February visitor spending, which reached $1.3 billion, was nearly 230% above the $397 million attained in February 2021, but it was still 10.4% below the $1.46 billion generated in February 2020.

However increases in spending by domestic visitors, the largest visitor group, pushed per-person-per-day spending to nearly $222, a gain of 9% over the $203 attained in 2020.

In February, 630,647 visitors arrived by air to the islands. February arrivals were up significantly from the 235,283 visitors who came to Hawaii in February 2021. However, the results were down from the 823,910 who traveled to Hawaii in February 2020.

On any given day in February there were 211,147 visitors in Hawaii. The results were up from an average of 90,776 visitors a day in February 2021, but below the 248,097 in February 2020.

DBEDT Director Mike McCartney said in a statement that, “We expect Hawaii to continue with this forward momentum, especially into Spring then into Summer, because of the arrival of Japanese visitors and other international markets.”

With the ending of the Safe Travels program on March 25, McCartney said Hawaii will need to prepare for hosting a different mix of visitors.

“There will be demand by local businesses; from restaurants, transportation, retail, activities and lodging, to attract and retain a quality workforce for Hawaii which will bring more certainty to the economy. There is now an opportunity for Hawaii’s small businesses to attract and retain quality workers and employees.”

As HTA refines and implements their Destination Management Plans, McCartney said it will take a collaboration with the counties to find balance and ensure that the community is an integral part of the process of moving towards a regenerative visitor industry.

“There is still a need to continue to be vigilant and remember that public health is the key for a healthy economy. Even though the formal Safe Travels program has ended we hope that everyone takes responsibility to keep Hawaii safe,” he said. “We learned how to live with the virus and need to remember that it is not yet over. “