Hawaii visitor arrivals recover to 94.6% of pre-pandemic levels
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARADVERTISER.COM
People stand at a crosswalk on Kalakaua Ave. on June 12. Some 801,569 visitors came to the Hawaiian islands in May, representing a 94.6% recovery from pre-COVID 2019.
Some 801,569 visitors came to the Hawaiian islands in May, according to preliminary visitor statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).
May arrivals represented an increase of 3.2% from arrivals in May 2022. When compared to the pre-COVID May 2019, May’s arrivals represented a 94.6% recovery. The visitors who came to Hawaii in May spent more on a nominal basis than visitors who came in 2022 and in 2019. Visitor spending in May reached $1.69 billion, a nominal increase of 7.9% from 2022 and 19.4% from May 2019.
The statewide average daily census was 225,210 visitors in May 2023, up 1.4% from 226,857 visitors in May 2022 and down 1.6% from 2019.
In May some 4,926 trans-Pacific flights with 1,065,692 seats serviced the Hawaiian islands. This was a 2.4% decrease in flights and a 2.5 % rise in seats from May 2022. Compared to May 2019, there was a decrease of 3.1% in flights and a 4.7% drop in seats.
During the first five months of 2023, some 4,075,437 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian islands. Year-to-date through May, nominal visitor spending hit $8.78 billion, up 18.8 % from the first five months of 2022, and a gain of 21.5 % from the same period in 2019.
