HONOLULU - Total visitor arrivals in September 2024 represent a 96.1 percent recovery from pre-pandemic September 2019, the best recovery rate since the Maui wildfires (not including February 2024, which had a leap day). Total nominal visitor spending increased 16.3 percent compared to September 2019. According to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), there were 707,486 visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in September 2024, up 7.8 percent from the same month last year. Total visitor spending measured in nominal dollars was $1.45 billion, growth of 4.6 percent from September 2023.

In September 2024, 688,831 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 18,655 visitors arrived via out-of-state cruise ships. In comparison, 648,145 visitors (+6.3%) arrived by air and 8,143 visitors (+129.1%) came by cruise ships in September 2023, and 718,042 visitors (-4.1%) came by air and 18,114 visitors (+3.0%) came by cruise ships in September 2019.

The average length of stay by all visitors in September 2024 was 8.23 days, which was shorter than September 2023 (8.61 days, -4.4%) and September 2019 (8.40 days, -2.0%). The statewide average daily census was 194,156 visitors in September 2024, compared to 188,319 visitors (+3.1%) in September 2023 and 206,169 visitors (-5.8%) in September 2019.

In September 2024, 359,688 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, an increase from September 2023 (329,347 visitors, +9.2%) and September 2019 (305,808 visitors, +17.6%). U.S. West visitor spending of $663.6 million grew compared to September 2023 ($604.5 million, +9.8%) and was considerably higher than September 2019 ($466.0 million, +42.4%). Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in September 2024 ($228 per person) increased compared to September 2023 ($223 per person, +2.3%) and was significantly more than September 2019 ($179 per person, +27.5%).

In September 2024, 160,299 visitors arrived from the U.S. East, up from September 2023 (153,737 visitors, +4.3%) and from September 2019 (133,185 visitors, +20.4%). U.S. East visitor spending of $408.9 million increased compared to September 2023 ($404.5 million, +1.1%) and September 2019 ($288.9 million, +41.5%). Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in September 2024 ($274 per person) was slightly less than September 2023 ($275 per person,
-0.3%) but was much higher than September 2019 ($229 per person, +19.8%).

There were 64,940 visitors from Japan in September 2024, which was a slight increase from September 2023 (64,580 visitors, +0.6%) but continued to be much lower than September 2019 (143,928 visitors, -54.9%). Visitors from Japan spent $96.2 million in September 2024, compared to $101.3 million (-5.0%) in September 2023 and $196.5 million (-51.0%) in September 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in September 2024 ($240 per person) decreased compared to September 2023 ($243 per person, -1.2%) but was higher than September 2019 ($231 per person, +3.8%).

In September 2024, 19,188 visitors arrived from Canada, an increase from September 2023 (18,647 visitors, +2.9%), but a decline compared to September 2019 (21,928 visitors, -12.5%). Visitors from Canada spent $43.6 million in September 2024, compared to $48.1 million (-9.3%) in September 2023 and $40.5 million (+7.6%) in September 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in September 2024 ($236 per person) was similar to September 2023 ($236 per person, +0.2%) and was considerably more than September 2019 ($159 per person, +48.8%).

There were 84,717 visitors from all other international markets in September 2024, comprising visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, the Philippines, the Pacific Islands and other regions. In comparison, there were 81,833 visitors (+3.5%) from all other international markets in September 2023 and 113,192 visitors (-25.2%) in September 2019.

Air capacity to the Hawaiian Islands in September 2024 (4,476 transpacific flights with 990,746 seats) increased compared to September 2023 (4,376 flights, +2.3% with 963,916 seats, +2.8%), but declined from September 2019 (4,533 flights, -1.3% with 1,012,883 seats, -2.2%).

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Statement by DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka

The leading contributor to the September 2024 tourism industry performance was the U.S. market with 519,987 visitors and registered as the second highest September visitor count on record (the highest September number occurred in 2022 with 566,189 visitors). The September 2024 U.S. visitor count was 18.4 percent higher than the same month in 2019. For the first nine months of 2024, the U.S. visitor count was 6.0 percent higher than the same period in 2019.

The rebound of Hawai‘i’s cruise industry, which has surpassed pre-pandemic 2019 levels, was also a contributing factor in September’s performance. Nine out-of-state cruise ships brought 18,655 visitors to the islands in September 2024, more than double the number of visitors who came by cruise ships in September 2023 and 3.0 percent higher than September 2019. For the first nine months of 2024, there were 58 arrivals from out-of-state cruise ships that carried more than 106,000 visitors, a growth of 11.5 percent compared to year-to-date 2019.

Current airlift and travel agency bookings data indicate that the U.S. market will still be leading Hawai‘i’s tourism recovery in the future months. We expect that the foreign exchange rate will be more favorable to foreign visitors and the international market will improve in the near future. During the first nine months of 2024, the recovery of foreign visitors was at 63.6 percent, while Japanese visitor recovery was at 44.5 percent.