Governor Josh Green, M.D.

HONOLULU – According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), a total of 871,870 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in December 2022, representing a 91.5 percent recovery from the same month in 2019. As measured in nominal dollars, these visitors spent $1.90 billion in December 2022, an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the $1.75 billion reported for December 2019.

In December 2022, 858,110 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 13,761 visitors arrived by cruise ships during the month. In comparison, 941,128 visitors arrived by air (-8.8%) and 11,313 visitors came by cruise ships (+21.6%) in December 2019. The average length of stay by all visitors in December 2022 was 9.49 days, up from 9.27 days (+2.4%) in December 2019. The statewide average daily census[1] was 266,967 visitors in December 2022 compared to 284,924 visitors (-6.3%) in December 2019.

In December 2022, 447,605 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, an increase of 6.9 percent compared to 418,520 visitors in December 2019. U.S. West visitors spent $910.0 million in December 2022, up 30.4 percent from $697.6 million in December 2019. Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in December 2022 ($226 per person) was much higher compared to December 2019 ($180 per person, +25.4%).

There were 228,459 visitors from the U.S. East in December 2022, a 6.1 percent growth from the 215,358 visitors in December 2019. U.S. East visitors spent $608.0 million in December 2022, up 24.5 percent from $488.3 million in December 2019. Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in December 2022 ($259 per person) increased in comparison to December 2019 ($218 per person, +19.0%).

There were 36,988 visitors from Japan in December 2022 compared to 136,635 visitors (-72.9%) in December 2019. Visitors from Japan spent $62.8 million in December 2022 compared to $210.9 million (-70.2%) in December 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in December 2022 ($239 per person) was lower compared to December 2019 ($260 per person, -8.0%).

In December 2022, 58,361 visitors arrived from Canada compared to 64,182 visitors (-9.1%) in December 2019. Visitors from Canada spent $136.2 million in December 2022, compared to $129.6 million (+5.1%) in December 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in December 2022 ($191 per person) increased compared to December 2019 ($159 per person, +20.0%).

In December 2022, there were 86,697 visitors from All Other International Markets, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, Philippines and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 106,434 visitors (-18.5%) from All Other International Markets in December 2019.

In December 2022, a total of 5,286 trans-Pacific flights with 1,175,147 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, compared to 5,676 flights (-6.9%) with 1,252,958 (-6.2%) in December 2019.

For all of 2022, A total of 9,247,848 visitors arrived in the islands, representing an 89 percent recovery from 2019 (10,386,673 visitors). Total visitor spending was $19.29 billion, up 8.9 percent from $17.72 billion in 2019.

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Statement by DBEDT Director Chris J. Sadayasu:

 

It is encouraging to see improvement in our international visitor markets. December 2022 visitor arrivals from Japan (36,988) and Canada (58,361) were at the highest monthly levels since the start of the pandemic. Overall, 2022 international visitors that arrived by air recovered 41.3 percent from 2019, and U.S. visitors were 12.9 percent higher than the 2019 level.

 

With the continued appreciation of the Japanese yen, we expect to see a significant improvement in the Japanese market in 2023.

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Media Contacts:

 

Laci Goshi

Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

(808) 587-9006

[email protected]

 

Jennifer Chun

Director of Tourism Research

Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism

(808) 973-9446

Jennifer.e.chun@hawaii.gov