Visitors to Maui down in February 2024 as wildfire recovery continues

There were 181,301 visitors on Maui in February 2024, and visitor spending was $443.1 million, according to new data released by the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism. That’s down from the 220,741 visitors in February 2023 when visitor spending was $540.1 million; and also down from February 2019, when there were 221,603 visitors and visitor spending was $413.2 million.

In February 2024, the average daily census on Maui of 51,976 visitors was down significantly compared to the average daily census in February 2023 (66,332 visitors, -21.6%) and from the average daily census in February 2019 (67,040 visitors, -22.5%).

In February 2024, average visitor spending on Maui was $15.3 million per day, a decrease compared to February 2023 ($19.3 million per day, -20.8%), but higher than in February 2019 ($14.8 million per day, +3.5%). 

In the first two months of 2024, 356,305 visitors arrived on Maui and visitor spending was $946.9 million. There were 449,484 visitors in the first two months of 2023 and visitor spending was $1.17 billion. In the first two months of 2019, there were 455,025 visitors and visitor spending was $887.4 million.

“The visitor statistics indicate that our tourism industry continues to be soft,” said DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka. “The main reasons for the weakness include the continued impact of the Maui wildfires and the shift of US and Canadian visitors to other international destinations due to currency appreciation. The currency situation is expected to improve when the Federal Reserve starts to cut interest rates during the second half of 2024.”

Tokioka said he is pleased to see the Japan market and other international markets continue to recover during the first two months of this year. “With Gov. Green’s most recent trip to Japan to strengthen tourism opportunities in partnership with the US government, the Japanese government, and the private sector, we are optimistic about the outcomes to support travel and economic growth for Hawaiʻi and Japan,” said Tokioka.

Statewide in February 2024, a total of 772,480 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands and total visitor spending measured in nominal dollars was $1.66 billion, according to preliminary statistics from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. There were 753,750 total visitors in February 2023 and total visitor spending was $1.64 billion. In pre-pandemic February 2019, there were 780,827 total visitors and visitor spending was $1.39 billion. 

DBEDT notes that though both visitor arrivals and expenditures increased as compared with the same month last year, February 2024 visitor statistics included a leap day and figures are not directly comparable to 2023 and 2019.

In February 2024, a total of 4,679 transpacific flights with 1,044,478 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands. There were 4,659 flights with 1,029,708 seats in February 2023, and 4,611 flights with 1,010,961 seats in February 2019.