TOTAL VISITOR SPENDING AND ARRIVALS IN JUNE 2021 REMAINED BELOW PRE-PANDEMIC JUNE 2019 RESULTS

TOTAL VISITOR SPENDING AND ARRIVALS IN JUNE 2021 REMAINED BELOW
PRE-PANDEMIC JUNE 2019 RESULTS

HONOLULU – According to preliminary visitor statistics jointly released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) and Hawaii Tourism Authority, total spending for visitors arriving in June 2021 was $1.44 billion¹. There is no comparative visitor spending data available for the month of June 2020. Compared to June 2019, visitor spending decreased 11.9 percent from $1.63 billion.

Through the first six months of 2021, total visitor spending was $4.86 billion². By comparison, this represented a 45.1 percent decline from the $8.86 billion spent through the first half of 2019.

A total of 791,053 visitors arrived by air service to the Hawaiian Islands in June 2021, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic and Hawaii’s quarantine requirement for travelers, the Hawaiian Islands experienced record-level visitor expenditures and arrivals in 2019 and in the first two months of 2020. When compared to 2019, visitor arrivals in June 2021 were down 16.5 percent from the June 2019 count of 947,112 visitors (air and cruise). In comparison, only 17,068 visitors arrived by air in June 2020.

A total of 2,751,849 visitors arrived in the first half of 2021, up 27.6 percent compared to the first half of 2020. Total arrivals were 46.8 percent lower than the 5,171,182 visitors in the first half of 2019.

During June 2021, most passengers arriving from out-of-state and traveling inter-county could bypass the State’s mandatory 10-day self-quarantine with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a Trusted Testing Partner prior to their departure to Hawaii through the Safe Travels program. In addition, individuals who were fully vaccinated in Hawaii could bypass the quarantine order beginning June 15, 2021. Inter-county travel restrictions were lifted also as of June 15, 2021. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) enforced restrictions on cruise ships through a “Conditional Sail Order.”

The average daily census showed that there were 255,936 visitors in Hawaii on any given day in June 2021, compared to 15,223 visitors per day in June 2020, versus 277,930 visitors per day in June 2019.

In June 2021, 521,796 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, well above the 10,149 visitors (+5,041.2%) in June 2020, and exceeding the June 2019 count of 452,958 visitors (+15.2%). U.S. West visitors spent $916.4 million in June 2021, which surpassed the $691.2 million (+32.6%) spent in June 2019. Higher average daily visitor spending ($188 per person, +9.9%) and a longer average length of stay (9.34 days, +4.7%) also contributed to the growth in U.S. West visitor expenditures compared to 2019.

There were 247,382 visitors from the U.S. East in June 2021, compared to 5,596 visitors (+4,320.8%) in June 2020, and 240,223 visitors (+3.0%) in June 2019. U.S. East visitors spent $513.3 million in June 2021 compared to $491.1 million (+4.5%) in June 2019. A longer length of stay (10.28 days, +5.6%) also contributed to the increase in U.S. East visitor expenditures. Daily spending ($202 per person) was lower compared to June 2019 ($210 per person).

There were 1,859 visitors from Japan in June 2021, compared to 40 visitors (+4,567.3%) in June 2020, versus 126,592 visitors (-98.5%) in June 2019. Visitors from Japan spent $7.4 million in June 2021 compared to $182.0 million (-96.0%) in June 2019.

Only 627 visitors arrived from Canada in June 2021, compared to 57 visitors (+1,000.2%) in June 2020, versus 19,172 visitors (-96.7%) in June 2019.

There were 19,390 visitors from All Other International Markets in June 2021. Many of these visitors were from Guam, and a small number of visitors were from Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Oceania, Philippines and Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 1,226 visitors (+1.481.3%) from All Other International Markets in June 2020, versus 107,428 visitors (-82.0%) in June 2019.

In June 2021, a total of 4,804 trans-Pacific flights (+898.8% vs. June 2020, -11.0% vs. June 2019) and 994,026 seats (+799.0% vs. June 2020, -15.9% vs. June 2019) serviced the Hawaiian Islands. That included the U.S. West (835,781 seats), U.S. East (131,564 seats) and Guam (9,800 seats); and limited service from Japan (7,686 seats), Korea (2,224 seats) and Manila (927 seats).

In June 2020, there were 481 flights and 110,570 seats, with service from U.S. West (91,334 seats), U.S. East (only from Dallas, 6,318 seats), Guam (10,920 seats) and Manila (1,545 seats).

In June 2019, there were 5,399 flights and 1,182,276 seats, with service from U.S. West (784,087 seats), U.S. East (114,333 seats), Japan (155,388 seats), Oceania (40,407 seats), Other Asia (37,900 seats), Canada (16,890 seats) and Other Markets (27,398 seats).