Maui Visitor Arrivals, Economic Contributions Highlight Need for Continued Support Statewide
Aloha kākou,
The State Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism (DBEDT) released its September 2023 visitor statistics report on Monday, demonstrating the continuing impacts of the Maui wildfires in early August.
On Maui, visitor arrivals declined 57.1% in September 2023 compared to September 2022, with visitor spending also down significantly by 52.6% to $203.2 million. Statewide, total visitor spending declined by 9.6 percent to $1.37 billion, with 7.4% fewer visitors during September.
Year-to-date, total visitor spending throughout the Hawaiian Islands was $15.79 billion, up from $13.30 billion (+18.7%) in the first nine months of 2019 prior to the pandemic, with a 6.5% decline in visitor arrivals.
As visitors make plans to return to Maui, HTA is sharing newly created videos featuring heartfelt messages from residents and information on how to travel with respect and compassion to support the community’s healing. These resources are available in our Mālama Maui toolkit for community members, industry partners, and businesses to utilize broadly.
In addition, the County of Maui recently launched the MauiNuiFirst.com website with listings of local businesses and events that visitors can support.
Our work continues during this crisis to stimulate mindful visitation from the U.S. and Canada, Maui’s historically largest markets, with targeted programs maximizing the additional Maui recovery funding that was approved by the HTA board of directors.
For more information on the September 2023 visitor statistics, visit www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/research/monthly-visitor-statistics/.
Mahalo,
Hawai‘i Tourism Authority
