Visitors to Maui in September 2023 following the Lahaina wildfires was half the volume of the same period in 2022

In the month following the Lahaina wildfires, 94,221 visitors came to Maui in September 2023, less than half the volume of September 2022 (219,667 visitors, -57.1%) and September 2019 (210,108 visitors, -55.2%).

The preliminary statistics were released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).

Visitor spending on Maui was also down. Maui recorded $203.2 million in visitor spending in September 2023, significantly lower than September 2022 ($428.3 million, -52.6%) and September 2019 ($339.7 million, -40.2%).

The average daily census on Maui was 23,633 visitors in September 2023, compared to 56,307 visitors (-58.0%) in September 2022 and 52,053 visitors (-54.6%) in September 2019.

In the first nine months of 2023, there were 1,985,918 visitors to Maui, compared to 2,199,187 visitors (-9.7%) in the first nine months of 2022 and 2,314,113 visitors (-14.2%) in the first nine months of 2019, according to the report. For the first nine months of 2023, total visitor spending was $4.55 billion, compared to $4.35 billion (+4.5%) in the first nine months of 2022 and $3.86 billion (+17.9%) in the first nine months of 2019.

DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka called the impacts from the Maui wildfires significant in September 2023. Visitor arrivals on Maui in September 2023 were the lowest since February 2021 and visitor spending was the lowest since March 2021, he said.

“With the reopening of West Maui that started in October, tourism on Maui is expected to improve over the next few months,” said Tokioka.

Statewide, both visitor arrivals and visitor spending decreased for the second consecutive month compared to 2022.

A total of 651,286 visitors came to the Hawaiian Islands in September 2023, a decrease of 7.4% from September 2022. When compared to pre-pandemic 2019, this represents an 88.5% recovery in total visitor arrivals from September 2019, according to the DBEDT.

As measured in nominal dollars, total visitor spending was $1.37 billion in September 2023, down from September 2022 ($1.52 billion, -9.6%), but higher than September 2019 ($1.25 billion, +10.2%).

The average length of stay by all visitors in September 2023 was 8.68 days, compared to 8.94 days (-2.9%) in September 2022 and 8.40 days (+3.3%) in September 2019, the DBEDT reports.

The department reports that in September 2023, a total of 4,374 transpacific flights with 964,132 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, compared to 4,501 flights (-2.8%) with 957,031 seats (+0.7%) in September 2022 and 4,533 flights (-3.5%) with 1,012,883 seats (-4.8%) in September 2019.