Maui visitor spending climbs 26% in May as arrivals near pre-wildfire levels

Visitor spending on Maui rose 26.4% in May compared with a year earlier, outpacing every other island in Hawaiʻi, according to preliminary statistics released Tuesday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Visitors spent $523.2 million on Maui in May, up from $414.1 million in May 2025, the report shows. The number of visitors to Maui also grew, reaching 231,331 for the month, an 18.4% increase from 195,334 visitors in May 2025.

The figures come two years and nine months after the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires that devastated Lahaina and disrupted the island’s visitor industry.

Maui’s average daily visitor census — a measure of how many visitors are on the island on any given day — rose 5.8% to 49,580 in May, up from 46,841 a year earlier, DBEDT reported. Visitors also spent more per day while on Maui, averaging $340.40 daily, a 19.4% increase from $285.20 in May 2025, even as the average length of stay fell to 6.64 days from 7.43 days, a drop of 10.6%.

Statewide, total visitor spending reached $1.77 billion in May, up 5.3% from May 2025, DBEDT said. Hawaiʻi welcomed 800,554 visitors statewide in May, an increase of 3.8% from 771,038 a year earlier. As with Maui, visitors statewide spent more per day — $291.60, up 13.1% — but stayed for shorter trips, averaging 7.60 days compared with 8.47 days in May 2025.

DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka, in a statement accompanying the report, attributed the spending growth to increased visitor numbers from the US East, West, and Japan markets, though he noted average stays from those markets were shorter than the same month last year.

The Canadian market continued to lag, with both spending and arrivals down statewide compared to May 2025. Tokioka said “sociopolitical issues” continue to affect Canadian travel to the islands. Statewide, Canadian visitor arrivals fell 1.1% to 18,474 in May, while spending dropped 2% to $39.2 million.

Looking toward summer, Tokioka said DBEDT’s air seat outlook for June through August shows growth in scheduled seats from the US Mainland but fewer seats from Japan, Canada, Korea and Australia compared with the same period last year.

Other islands saw mixed results in May. Oʻahu visitor arrivals fell 3.5% to 450,213, and spending there dropped 6.4% to $736.7 million. Kauaʻi saw arrivals grow 8% to 122,261, with spending up 9.5% to $262.9 million. Hawaiʻi Island arrivals rose 5.3% to 137,156, with spending up 8.5% to $249.1 million. Visitor statistics for Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi were not available.

DBEDT also reported a delay in data processing affected visitor market statistics for March and April, and said updated tables for those months would be posted in July. Year-to-date island-level visitor statistics for 2026 were not yet available.

The full report, including detailed breakdowns by visitor market and island, is available on DBEDT’s website.