Tourism Dollars Up in October from 2018

The Hawai‘i tourism industry brought in $1.33 billion in October, up just under 1% from October 2018, according to preliminary statistics released by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA).

Visitor spending includes lodging, inter-island airfare, shopping, food, car rental and other expenses while in the state.

Tourism dollars from the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) helped to fund a number of community events statewide during October including the Hawai‘i Food and Wine Festival, Maui Marathon, Kaua‘i Chocolate and Coffee Festival and the Honolulu Pride Parade and Festival.

In October, visitor spending rose from US West (+6.2% to $539.9 million), Japan (+1.1% to $186.6 million) and Canada (+3.1% to $63.0 million), but declined from US East (-0.6% to $303.5 million) and All Other International Markets (-8.9% to $224.4 million) compared to a year ago.

On a statewide level, average daily visitor spending declined (-2.4% to $197 per person) in October
year-over-year.

Total visitor arrivals increased 4.8% to 800,448 visitors in October, supported by growth in arrivals from air service (+5.2% to 779,909), which offset fewer arrivals by cruise ships (-8.3% to 20,539). Total visitor days increased 3.4%. The average daily census, or the number of visitors on any given day in October, was 216,955, up 3.4% compared to a year ago.

The island of Hawai‘i saw increased visitor spending (+3.9% to $177.0 million), bolstered by growth in visitor arrivals (+14.5% to 131,947) which offset lower daily spending (-4.7%).

A total of 1,063,333 trans-Pacific air seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands in October, up 4.1% from a year ago. Growth in air seats from US East (+8.6%) and US West (+8.5%) offset decreases from Other Asia (-10.6%), Canada (-10.2%), Oceania (-7.8%) and Japan (-4.4%).

Year-to-Date 2019

Year-to-date through October, total visitor spending of $14.67 billion (+0.2%) was comparable to a year ago. Visitor spending increased from US West (+5.3% to $5.72 billion), US East (+2.3% to $3.90 billion) and Japan (+0.5% to $1.80 billion), but declined from Canada (-2.8% to $846.9 million) and All Other International Markets (-12.3% to $2.37 billion).

Statewide average daily spending by visitors decreased to $195 per person (-2.6%) due to lower spending by visitors from most markets.

Year-to-date, total visitor arrivals increased (+5.5% to 8,659,324) versus last year, supported by growth in arrivals from air service (+5.3% to 8,544,350) and cruise ships (+16.4% to 114,974).

The island of Hawai‘i reported declines in visitor spending (-3.6% to $1.90 billion) and daily spending (-3.9%), but visitor arrivals increased (+2.8% to 1,467,277).