Hawaii’s visitor industry lost momentum in August as fewer travelers came to the islands, stayed for shorter vacations and spent less overall amid storms and hurricane threats that disrupted what is typically one of the summer’s busiest tourism months.
Visitor arrivals fell 5.6% to 772,039 and spending dropped 9.7% to $1.59 billion, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Industry leaders said the storms accelerated an already-softening market, leaving Hawaii on track to finish 2026 below expectations. Weak bookings and slower group travel demand are fueling concerns that the slowdown could extend into the critical first quarter of next year — a period many tourism executives view as essential to annual performance.
Weather disruptions hurt August’s tourism performance, but rising travel costs, inflation and economic uncertainty also appear to be prompting travelers to shorten Hawaii vacations, pushing average length of stay to its lowest August level in at least 17 years.
Visitor days fell 15.9% to 5.82 million in August, down from 6.92 million a year earlier and nearly 26% below the August 2019 peak. The total was the lowest for any August since at least 2009 outside of the pandemic.
The average visitor stay fell 10.9% to 7.55 days, the shortest August stay in at least 17 years. As a result, Hawaii had roughly 35,400 fewer visitors on the ground on any given day in August, reducing customer traffic for tourism businesses despite higher daily spending.
“The forward pace is not good at all. It’s very slow,” said Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawai’i Hotel Alliance. “I think we’re in for a very difficult end of the year.”
Gibson said successive storms and hurricane threats disrupted the latter half of the summer season and prompted some travelers to postpone or cancel trips.
“August typically is good through August 15, and normally it starts to fall off after that,” Gibson said. “It looks like it fell off a little earlier this year because of the storms.”
DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka said Hurricane Lala and Tropical Storm Moke compounded an already soft summer travel season.
‘Perfect storm’
Industry analysts and lawmakers said weather was only part of the story.
Chris Kam, president and chief operating officer of Omnitrak, said severe weather and related media coverage have discouraged travelers from coming to Hawaii, while inflation, especially higher transportation costs, has made them more selective
“It’s what they call a perfect storm,” Kam said. “You’ve got actual storms here, and you have an inflationary environment as well.”
State Rep. Adrian Tam (D-Waikiki, McCully, Moiliili), who chairs the House Committee on Tourism, said the downturn cannot be blamed solely on hurricanes and storms.
“Oil prices and gas prices are still high. So people are spending more at the pump rather than spending more on vacations because gas in your car is more important than going on a vacation,” Tam said.
Kam pointed to the U.S. Travel Association’s Travel Price Index, which showed travel prices up 7.4% year over year in August, transportation costs up 25.6% and airfares up 23.4%.
“People still want to travel, but transportation costs are really curbing some of that demand, especially for a destination where you are going to fly,” Kam said. “As travel prices go up, travelers really need a good reason to want to come.”
Kam said visitors still want to stay at the accommodations they prefer and increasingly are trimming a day or two from trips rather than trading down to lower-cost accommodations.
That trend showed up across Hawaii’s largest source markets. Length of stay fell 14.8% for U.S. West visitors and 15.4% for U.S. East visitors.
Keith Vieira, principal of KV & Associates Hospitality Consulting, said declining length of stay may be the most troubling trend because it shrinks Hawaii’s visitor economy even when travelers spend more each day.
Average daily spending rose 7.4% statewide to $272 per person, but shorter stays and fewer arrivals still pushed total visitor spending down significantly.
Weak demand persists
Gibson said booking trends for the remainder of the year have been disappointing and that group business has not materialized at expected levels.
He estimated Hawaii would finish 2026 about 4% to 5% below budget, and said he expects that weaker demand will spill into at least January and February.
“I wish I could say that I could see something on the horizon that looks really good,” he said. “But there’s nothing that I’m looking at that looks great yet.”
Tam said Hawaii must respond by improving infrastructure, supporting local businesses and strengthening tourism marketing efforts.
“We have to work with the industry to find ways to boost tourism around these obstacles,” he said.
Hawaii remains a strong brand, Vieira said, but greater promotion is needed to counter rising travel costs, weather-related perceptions and increased competition.
“We basically need to go back to work in sales and marketing, but you can’t do that unless you have the funding,” he said.
Tam acknowledged that Hawaii faces increasing competition from destinations investing heavily in tourism promotion.
He said Hawaii must distinguish itself from other destinations with “beaches and good weather” by highlighting what makes the islands unique. “One thing that we do have is culture and aloha,” Tam said.
Vieira warned Hawaii could fall further behind if weak demand persists into next year.
“History shows that if we miss the first quarter, we miss the year,” he said.
