Visitor arrivals and spending in May were more than 20% shy of the same month in 2019, which was a record year.

In May, the state welcomed 629,681 visitors, who spent $1.10 billion, according to statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Last month’s arrivals were about 26% down from the 847,396 visitors who came to Hawaii in May of 2019 and their spending was 22% below the $1.41 billion that was generated in May 2019.

On any given day in Hawaii, there were 190,491 visitors in May 2021, compared to 8,323 visitors per day in May 2020, and 228,768 visitors per day in May 2019.

Some 418,956 visitors came from the U.S. West or 8% may than came in May 2019. Some 193,501 visitors came from the U.S. East, which was down about 3% from May 2019.

But the international market still has far to go. Only 1,312 visitors came from Japan, which was down nearly 99% from May 2019. Visitors from Japan in May only spent $4.9 million compared to $162.4 million in May 2019.

Only 564 visitors arrived from Canada last month. There were 20 visitors from Canada in May 2020, and 26,424 visitors in May 2019.

Some 15,347 visitors in May came from the category called All Other International Markets, with most coming from Guam and smaller numbers from Asian nations outside of Japan, Europe, Latin America, Oceania, Philippines and Pacific Islands.

For the year through May, visitor arrivals and spending were down more than 50%.

During the first five months of the year, 1,960,796 visitors compared to 4,224,071 visitors in May 2019. Visitor spending through May came in at $3.43 billion, which was down from $7.23 billion during the same period in 2019.