DBEDT: April visitor count on Maui marks second-highest month of 2025 so far

April 2025 brought the second-highest number of visitors to Maui so far this year, trailing only March—a milestone month for statewide tourism—according to preliminary data from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Twenty-one months after the August 2023 wildfires, Maui welcomed 207,522 visitors in April 2025. On any given day, the island hosted an average of 51,804 visitors, who spent a combined $442 million during the month—an average of $14.73 million in visitor-related expenditures daily.

Both daily visitor counts and total spending were up from April 2024. Maui saw a 14% increase in average daily visitor numbers and a 12% increase in spending year-over-year.

Still, the island remained below pre-pandemic visitor levels. In April 2019, Maui averaged 63,280 visitors per day. April 2025’s visitor arrivals represent an 84% recovery compared to that month in 2019.

On neighboring islands this April, Oʻahu led the state with 487,904 visitors, followed by Maui with 207,522, then Hawaiʻi Island with 137,478 visitors and finally Kauaʻi with 119,308.

Statewide visitor trends

Statewide, the visitor industry also saw continued year-over-year growth in April. The gains follow March 2025, which recorded the second-highest number of visitor arrivals in Hawaiʻi history.

Across all islands, April 2025 visitor arrivals were 98% recovered compared to April 2019. Total visitor spending statewide reached $1.69 billion, an increase of more than 28% from April 2019, when visitors spent $1.32 billion.

April marked the end of the peak spring break travel season. With it came a slight decline in domestic flights compared to March, but air access remained strong. In April 2025, Hawaiʻi was serviced by 4,012 nonstop domestic flights from the continental US, providing 863,115 seats. That was relatively flat from April 2024 (<1% change), but up 7.3% in flight volume and 10.2% in seat count from April 2019.

The largest growth in arrivals came from the continental United States, with a 16% increase from April 2024 and nearly 15% more than April 2019. The majority of that growth came from the US West region.

International arrivals continue to lag

International flight activity dipped slightly from March to April. There were 873 nonstop international flights to Hawaiʻi in April 2025, down from 936 in March. Compared to April 2024, international flights were up 1.2%, but total international air seats were slightly down.

International air capacity remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels. In April 2019, Hawaiʻi received 1,291 international flights carrying 328,990 seats. April 2025 figures reflect a 32.4% drop in flights and a 32.5% drop in seats compared to April 2019.

The standout figure is visitor arrivals from Japan, which were down 56% compared to April 2019. Arrivals from Canada were down 28.5% and all other international markets combined were down 15.5%.

Cruise visitor arrivals decline year-over-year

Cruise ship traffic brought 22,943 visitors to the state in April 2025, down nearly 28% from April 2024. However, cruise arrivals remain about 7% higher than April 2019 levels.

The data comes amid the recent passage of a new 11% “Green Fee” tax, which will, starting in 2026, apply to cruise ships visiting the Islands for the first time.

More information and data about visitor statistics can be found at hawaiitourismauthority.org