#Hawaii Tourism

Ten months into 2025, Maui is still outpacing last year’s visitor totals — even though October delivered the island’s first year-over-year dip since midsummer.

Savings of up to 45% meet purpose, with Hawai‘i bookings benefiting the Polynesian Voyaging Society and Hōkūle‘a’s Moananuiākea Voyage.

UHERO forecasts a mild recession in the islands over the next year, with the weakening US economy threatening a potentially deeper downturn. The Maui condo market has seen a large plunge in activity, with the value of resales down nearly 50% compared with mid-2023. This reflects in part uncertainty over Bill 9.

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, the official tourism agency for the state, has allocated $1.9 million to support 21 major festivals and sports events across the state through next summer, per an announcement this week.

The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority is warning tourism businesses about a sophisticated chargeback fraud scheme targeting the industry through the social media platform “Little Red Book” (Xiaohongshu). The scam has already resulted in significant financial losses for multiple local businesses.

Eighteen months after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires, there were 202,738 visitors to Maui in January 2025. The number of visitors to Maui in January 2025 was higher than January 2024 (175,005 visitors, +15.8%), but below January 2019 (233,422 visitors, -13.1%).

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has issued its next round of requests for proposals for its community partnership programs.

Fifteen months after the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires, there were 197,622 visitors to Maui in November 2024, according to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. This marks a 21.6% increase—or approximately 35,000 more visitors—compared to November 2023, though it remains about 15% below the visitor count recorded in November 2019, prior to the pandemic and wildfires.

Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort has been accepted into Virtuoso’s exclusive portfolio of luxury travel partners, comprising over 2,300 preferred suppliers in 100 countries.

Maui County hotels continued to be impacted by the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires, according to the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority’s Hotel Performance Report for September.

A new deal between the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, Meet Hawai‘i and JTB seeks to recover the pipeline of Japan business meetings in Hawai‘i.

A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 791,292 visitors to Haleakalā National Park in 2023 spent $57.5 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 556 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $72.1 million.

The vacation rental unit supply on Maui continued to be impacted by the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires. The information and data was part of the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism’s March 2024 Hawai‘i Vacation Rental Performance Report released today.

The Native Hawaiian Hospitality Association (NaHHA), with support from funds issued through a joint partnership between the Office of Indian Economic Development (OIED) and the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA), has been awarded $50,000 in NATIVE Act funding to provide workforce development trainings based in the foundational values of the Hawaiian culture.

After a hiatus due to COVID-19 closures, the East Maui Taro Festival is back to showcase the best of Hawaiian culture, cuisine, and the community of Hāna, Maui. The 28th event returns on Saturday, April 20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hāna Ballpark.

Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green, M.D. received the Resilience in Tourism Award at Forbes Travel Guide’s “The Summit” event, held in Las Vegas, Feb. 28-29. The award commends a leader demonstrating a dedication and focus on building resilience in a meaningful and impactful way.

Maui County hotels continued to be impacted by the Aug. 8 wildfires, but still led the counties in December 2023 Revenue Per Available Room due to comparatively higher Average Daily Rate. 

The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, the state agency responsible for representing the Hawaiian Islands brand globally, has reentered Europe.

“The impact of the Maui wildfires continues to be felt in November’s figures, but with most of West Maui now reopened to tourism, there is a concerted effort to reinvigorate job opportunities and facilitate the economic recovery of Maui,” said DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka.

The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority has awarded a contract to the Hawaiʻi Visitors & Convention Bureau for island-based visitor education and brand management support services for Hawaiʻi Island, Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Oʻahu and Kauaʻi.