Report: Total Visitors and Visitor Spending on Maui Rise

According to a report the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority released on Thursday, visitor spending on Maui totaled $5.07 billion in 2018, up 8% from the year before. Around 2.9 million visitors traveled to Maui throughout the year, a 6% rise from the previous year.

Oʻahu and Kauaʻi also recorded increases in visitor spending and visitor arrivals in 2018 versus the year prior. Visitor spending on Oʻahu rose 7% and visitor arrivals rose 4%. Kauaʻi finished the year with a 10% rise in visitor spending and an 8% rise in arrivals. Visitor spending on the island of Hawaiʻi remained flat, while visitor arrivals decreased 3%.

According to the HTA, visitors throughout the state spent a total of $17.82 billion throughout the year, a 7% increase from the year before. Visitor spending generated $2.08 billion in state tax revenue for the year, increasing 7% from the previous year. In addition, 217,000 jobs statewide were supported by Hawaiʻiʻs tourism industry, a 7% rise from the year before.

Visitor spending throughout the state increased 9% from US West and increased 8% from US East. In addition, visitor spending from Japan increased 2%, visitor spending from Canada increased 5%, and visitor spending from all other international markets increased 5%. On a statewide level, average daily visitor spending rose 1%.

Nearly 10 million visitors came to Hawaiʻi in 2018, a 6% rise percent from the previous year. Both the total number of days visitors spent in the islands and the number of visitors in the islands on any given day increased 5% from 2017.  

Air service arrivals to the Hawaiian islands for the year rose 6%, with growth from US West, US East, Canada, and all other international markets. These rises offset a slight decrease in arrivals from Japan. Cruise ship arrivals saw a slight increase. A little over 13 million trans-Pacific air seats serviced the Hawaiian islands throughout the year, an 8% increase from the previous year. Growth in air seat capacity from US West, US East, Oceania, Canada, and Japan offset fewer air seats from other Asian markets.

The full report is available online.