Visitor industry saw continued improvement to end 2024
Seventeen months after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires, Maui has seen signs of a recovery in its tourism industry, with December 2024 marking an increase in both visitor numbers and spending.
According to preliminary statistics provided by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, in December 2024, Maui welcomed 227,800 visitors, a rise of over 15% compared to the same month in 2023.
Visitor spending also saw a sharp uptick, reaching $513.1 million in December 2024—a 20% jump from the previous year. This increase helped push total visitor expenditures on Maui above the $500 million mark for the first time since July, and for just the third time all year.
Despite the growth, visitor numbers remain 17.3% below pre-pandemic levels. Maui still hasn’t fully recovered to the heights seen before the pandemic in December 2019, when Maui saw 275,419 visitors.
On Maui in December 2024, the number of visitors present on any given day was 61,804, up 10% from December 2023 but down 18.5% from December 2019.
As a state, the Hawaiian Islands in December 2024 saw a 5.5% growth compared to the same month last year. Total visitor spending measured in nominal dollars was $2.04 billion, up 4.7 percent from December 2023. December marked the fifth straight month with year-over-year growth in both visitor arrivals and expenditures for the state.
Total visitor arrivals in December 2024 represent a 95.5 percent recovery rate from pre-pandemic December 2019, and total nominal visitor spending increased compared to December 2019 by over a quarter of a billion dollars, or 16.6%.
The average length of stay by all visitors in December 2024 was 9.10 days, which was slightly shorter than December 2023 by 2.7%, and December 2019 by 1.9%.
Charged primarily by US visitors, the tourism sector saw 892,000 visitors arriving by air in December 2024. An additional 18,055 visitors came via cruise ships, marking an 18.9% rise from the previous year.
Visitor spending surged for visitors in the US West, who spent $922.4 million, up 7.7% from last year, while US East visitors spent $609.4 million, a 9.3% increase.
The number of visitors from Japan remained relatively stable, with 70,825 arriving, though total spending dropped by 8.7% compared to December 2023. Canadian arrivals declined by 8.1% year-over-year, though spending remained on par with 2019 levels.
All other international markets made up 87,779 visitors in December 2024, a 17.5% decline from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 but up 3.5% from December 2023.
Air travel capacity to Hawaiʻi grew by 4.8%, with 1.19 million seats available, though it remains slightly below 2019 levels.
Calendar Year 2024 vs 2023: Modest growth in visitor arrivals, spending declines slightly
The state of Hawaiʻi welcomed 9.69 million visitors in 2024, a slight increase of 0.3% from 2023, when 9.66 million visitors arrived. However, arrivals were still down 6.7% compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, which saw 10.39 million visitors.
Total visitor spending in 2024 reached $20.68 billion, a slight decrease of 0.2% from the previous year. However, spending was up by 16.7% compared to 2019, when it totaled $17.72 billion.