Accounting for Inflation, Tourist Spending is Down from 2019
HONOLULU – According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), a total of 757,182 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in October 2022, representing a 95.1 percent recovery from the same month in 2019. As measured in nominal dollars, these visitors spent $1.53 billion in October 2022, an increase of 15.1 percent compared to the $1.33 billion reported for October 2019.
(TRANSLATION: ‘Nominal dollars’ means ‘not accounting for inflation’. Inflation is 17% from 2019 to 2022 so a 15.1% ‘nominal’ increase means ‘real dollar’ spendng is down, not up.)
OCTOBER 2022 TOTAL VISTOR COUNT 95.1 PERCENT OF THE 2019 LEVEL
