HONOLULU — According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, total spending by visitors who came to the islands in September was $1.05 billion.
“Over the past 18 months, we have learned and done many things that collectively changed the trajectory of Hawai‘i,” DBEDT Director Mike McCartney said.
“We have shifted from fearing COVID-19 to respecting it, managing it and, ultimately, living with it. Our actions to put public health before economic prosperity will start to pay dividends in the months to come.”
In 2019, prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic and Hawai‘i’s quarantine requirements for travelers, the state hit record-level visitor expenditures and arrivals into the first two months of 2020.
Comparative September 2020 visitor-spending statistics were not available as the Departure Survey could not be conducted last September due to COVID-19 restrictions. September 2021 visitor spending was lower than the $1.25 billion (-15.4%) reported for September 2019.
A total of 505,861 visitors arrived by air to the islands in September 2021, primarily from the U.S. West and U.S. East. In comparison, only 18,409 visitors arrived by air in September 2020 and 736,155 visitors arrived by air and by cruise ships in September 2019.
“The late-summer surge of the delta variant continued to depress visitor spending and visitor arrivals in September, which had a negative impact on our state’s economy and, more importantly, the health of our residents,” Hawai‘i Tourism Authority President and CEO John De Fries said in a statement.
“However, despite the
anticipated slowdown in fall travel, we were encouraged to see the positive results from the U.S. West and U.S. East markets, knowing how visitor spending translates into continued support for jobs in our community.”
In September 2021, passengers arriving from out-of-state could bypass the state’s mandatory 10-day self-quarantine if they were fully vaccinated in the United States or with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a trusted testing partner prior to their departure through the Safe Travels program.
The average daily census was 154,355 visitors in September 2021, compared to 20,472 in September 2020, versus 206,169 in September 2019.
“We now see positive signs that Hawai‘i’s visitor economy will begin to recover at an accelerated rate as we welcome our fully vaccinated international visitors,” McCartney said.
“I am optimistic that we will end 2021 stronger and enter 2022 with solid momentum for growth. It will still be challenging at times, but I am confident Hawai‘i is ready, now more than ever, to be open for business.”
