Visitor spending on Maui is up; State sees 93.9% recovery in visitor arrivals from pre pandemic levels

There were 276,136 visitors to Maui in June 2023, compared to 288,333 visitors (-4.2%) in June 2022 and 295,926 visitors (-6.7%) in June 2019. The data was compiled by the state Department of Business Economic Development & Tourism as part of its June 2023 visitor statistics report, released today.

Meanwhile, visitor spending on Maui was $619.4 million in June 2023, compared to $549.8 million in June 2022 (+12.7%) and $477.1 million (+29.8%) in June 2019.

The average daily census on Maui was 71,790 visitors in June 2023, compared to 76,288 visitors (-5.9%) in June 2022 and 76,008 visitors (-5.5%) in June 2019, according to the report.

The Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority responded to the update in an email message to members saying, “We are pleased to see Hawai‘i’s visitor industry continuing its recovery trajectory with total visitor spending at $2 billion in June 2023, up 22.7% from June 2019, while visitor arrivals continued to trail slightly.”

Complementing the industry’s recovery is the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s community-based destination stewardship programs, which the agency says remains an important part of ensuring a regenerative tourism model prioritizes the needs of residents. 

According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the DBEDT, a total of 889,274 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in June 2023, an increase of 5.5% from June 2022. When compared to 2019, the benchmark year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this represents a 93.9% recovery in total visitor arrivals from June 2019. 

“June visitor statistics indicate that our visitor industry continues a steady recovery,” said DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka. “The total visitor arrivals of 889,274 in June 2023 was the third-highest June in our history. Japanese arrivals in June 2023 at 46,753 was the highest since March 2020 and represented a 36.9% recovery from the same month in 2019. In DBEDT’s tourism forecast, we expect Japanese arrivals will recover to about 50% of the 2019 level by the end of this year.”

With the accelerated recovery of international visitors, Oʻahu experienced the highest increase in visitor arrivals for the first half of 2023, and neighbor islands experienced higher increases in visitor expenditures mainly due to their higher room rates, according to Tokioka.

The complete June 2023 visitor statistics report is available online.