Some 889,274 visitors came to Hawaii in June, according to preliminary visitor statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The June arrivals are a 5.5% increase from arrivals in June 2022. Compared to 2019 — the benchmark year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic — the June arrivals represented a 93.9% recovery.

In June, visitors spent $2 billion in nominal dollars, which was 9.2% higher than the $1.83 billion spent in June 2022 and 22.7% higher than the $1.63 billion spent in June 2019.

The statewide average daily census was 268,857 visitors in June 2023, up 1.4% from 265,157 visitors in June 2022, and down 3.3% from June 2019.

There were signs of improvement for the Japan market, with 46,753 visitors in June compared to 11,940 in June 2022 representing a 291.6% increase. Still, the number was a 63.1% drop from June 2019.

“June visitor statistics indicate that our visitor industry continues a steady recovery,” said DBEDT Director James Tokioka in a statement. “The total visitor arrivals of 889,274 in June 2023 was the third-highest June in our history. Japanese arrivals in June 2023 at 46,753 was the highest since March 2020 and represented a 36.9% recovery from the same month in 2019.”

Oahu experienced the highest increase in visitor arrivals for the first half of 2023, he said, while neighbor isles experienced higher increases in visitor expenditures mainly due to higher room rates.

In DBEDT’s tourism forecast, he said, Japanese arrivals are expected to recover to about 50% of the 2019 level by the end of this year.