Maui tourism: Visitor arrivals up slightly, spending rises 23% in August

Two years after the Maui wildfires, the island recorded 205,182 visitors in August 2025, up 2.3% from August 2024 (200,598) but still down 25% compared to August 2019 (273,638).

Visitor spending totaled $430.7 million in August, a 23% increase over August 2024 ($350.1 million) and 6.4% higher than August 2019 ($404.7 million). The average daily census was 48,584 visitors, compared to 47,149 in 2024 (+3.0%) and 64,553 in 2019 (-24.7%).

The visitor data comes from preliminary statistics released by the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism.

Thus far in 2025, Maui has welcomed over 1.7 million visitors, which is up 8.3% from the same period in 2024, though still 18.8% below 2019 (2.1 million visitors).

Total visitor spending for the first eight months of 2025 reached $3.91 billion, an 11.1% increase over the same period compared to both 2024 and 2019.

According to DBEDT’s August 2025 Hotel Performance Report, Maui County hotels reported islandwide occupancy of 62% for August 2025 compared to 55.2% in August 2024. Particular improvements were observed in the West Maui region — comprising Lahaina, Kāʻanapali and Kapalua — which reported hotel occupancy of 61.2%, up from 50.8% in August 2024.

“There have been improvements in tourism on Maui, two years after the August 8, 2023 wildfires,” said DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka. “Hotel occupancy rates on Maui have also improved.”

There were 806,776 total visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in August 2025, down 2.6 percent from August 2024. However, these visitors spent more on an average daily basis ($251 per person, +4.5%) and contributed to a 3.0 percent growth in total visitor spending to $1.72 billion (measured in nominal dollars). Total visitor arrivals in August 2025 represent an 87.1 percent recovery compared to pre-pandemic August 2019 and total visitor spending was higher than August 2019 ($1.50 billion, +14.4%).

All 806,776 visitors in August 2025 came by air service and they were mainly from the US West and US East. No out-of-state cruise ships visited Hawai‘i during the month. In August 2024, 828,326 visitors arrived by air (-2.6%) and no out-of-state cruise ships visited Hawai‘i. In August 2019, there were 926,417 total visitors and all of them came by air service (-12.9%).

The average length of stay by total visitors in August 2025 was 8.49 days, which was slightly longer than August 2024 (8.39 days, +1.2%) and August 2019 (8.46 days, +0.4%). The statewide average daily census was 221,073 visitors in August 2025, compared to 224,309 visitors (-1.4%) in August 2024 and 252,916 visitors (-12.6%) in August 2019.

In August 2025, 420,902 visitors arrived from the US West, a decrease from August 2024 (435,079 visitors, -3.3%), but practically unchanged from August 2019 (420,750 visitors, 0.0%). Although there were fewer US West visitors in August 2025, they spent more on an average daily basis, which led to higher total spending ($793.6 million) compared to August 2024 ($773.0 million, +2.7%) and August 2019 ($579.3 million, +37.0%). Daily spending by US West visitors in August 2025 rose to $234 per person compared $223 per person (+5.0%) in August 2024 and $167 per person (+39.7%) in August 2019.

There were fewer US East visitors in August 2025 (189,568 visitors) compared to August 2024 (193,152 visitors, -1.9%) and August 2019 (199,659 visitors, -5.1%). US East visitors in August 2025 also spent more per day, contributing to higher total spending ($498.5 million) compared to August 2024 ($457.1 million, +9.1%) and August 2019 ($379.1 million, +31.5%). Daily spending by US East visitors increased to $284 per person in August 2025 compared to $257 per person (+10.6%) in August 2024 and $206 per person (+38.1%) in August 2019.

In August 2025, 83,699 visitors arrived from Japan, which was similar to August 2024 (83,907 visitors, -0.2%), but significantly less than August 2019 (160,728 visitors, -47.9%). Visitors from Japan spent $130.2 million in August 2025, compared to $124.5 million (+4.6%) in August 2024 and $236.9 million (-45.1%) in August 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in August 2025 ($243 per person) was more than August 2024 ($230 per person, +5.5%) and August 2019 ($228 per person, +6.3%).

In August 2025, 23,261 visitors arrived from Canada, down from August 2024 (25,048 visitors, -7.1%) and August 2019 (28,672 visitors, -18.9%). Visitors from Canada spent $53.2 million in August 2025, compared to $57.5 million (-7.4%) in August 2024 and $57.2 million (-7.0%) in August 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in August 2025 ($225 per person) was less than August 2024 ($235 per person, -4.3%), but higher than August 2019 ($178 per person, +26.5%).

There were 89,346 visitors from all other international markets in August 2025, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, the Philippines, the Pacific Islands and other countries. In comparison, there were 91,141 visitors (-2.0%) from all other international markets in August 2024 and 116,608 visitors (-23.4%) in August 2019.

Air capacity to Hawai‘i in August 2025 (4,960 transpacific flights with 1,104,220 seats) declined compared to August 2024 (5,045 flights, -1.7% with 1,117,853 seats, -1.2%) and August 2019 (5,469 flights, -9.3% with 1,212,926 seats, -9.0%).