HONOLULU – Visitors to the Hawaiian Islands spent a total of $1.33 billion in November 2019, an increase of 3.4 percent compared to November 2018, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA). Visitor spending includes lodging, interisland airfare, shopping, food, car rental and other expenses while in Hawaii.
Tourism dollars from the Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT) helped to fund a number of community events statewide during November, including the Hawaii International Film Festival, the Kauai Old Time Gathering, and the XTERRA Trail Run World Championship. Tourism dollars also helped to fund a series of symposiums statewide in partnership with Hoola Na Pua, aimed at educating Hawaii’s visitor industry about how to recognize and report sex trafficking. In November, visitor spending rose from U.S. West (+5.3% to $563.7 million), U.S. East (+4.9% to $305.0 million) and Japan (+5.7% to $181.2 million) but declined from Canada (-2.6% to $98.6 million) and All Other International Markets (-4.6% to $173.4 million) compared to a year ago. On a statewide level, average daily visitor spending increased (+3.3% to $197 per person) compared to November 2018. Daily spending by visitors from Japan (+3.1% to $253 per person), U.S. East (+2.0% to $222 per person), U.S. West (+2.9% to $178 per person), Canada (+4.3% to $165 per person) and All Other International Markets (+7.2% to $214) were higher than last year. Total visitor arrivals rose 4.2 percent to 811,382 visitors in November, supported by growth in arrivals from air service (+3.7% to 794,841) and arrivals by cruise ships (+39.6% to 16,541). However, a shorter average length of stay (-4.0% to 8.31 days) by visitor from most markets resulted in no growth in total visitor days1 (+0.1%). The average daily census2, or the number of visitors on any given day in November 2019 was 224,758 (+0.1%). Visitor arrivals by air service increased in November from U.S. West (+4.7% to 376,997), U.S. East (+4.5% to 148,717), Japan (+3.4% to 126,961) and All Other International Markets (+4.4% to 91,457) but declined from Canada (-5.9% to 50,709) compared to November 2018. Among the four larger islands, Oahu recorded increased visitor spending (+3.4% to $628.8 million) in November, boosted by growth in visitor arrivals (+4.6% to 470,404) and higher daily spending (+4.6%). Maui saw increases in visitor spending (+4.5% to $381.0 million), daily spending (+5.5%) and visitor arrivals (+3.0% to 233,631), as did the island of Hawaii with growth in visitor spending (+6.9% to $162.1 million), visitor arrivals (+7.8% to 132,814) and daily spending (+1.3%). Kauai recorded a decline in visitor spending (-3.7% to $137.6 million) due to lower daily spending (-2.1%) while visitor arrivals (+0.1% to 104,517) were comparable to a year ago. A total of 1,073,083 trans-Pacific air seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands in November, an increase of 3.6 percent from November 2018. Growth in air seats from U.S. East (+9.3%), U.S. West (+8.2%) and Other Asia (+5.6%) offset decreases from Oceania (-14.3%), Canada (-12.3%) and Japan (-4.1%). Year-to-Date 2019 Year-to-date through November, total visitor spending of $16.0 billion (+0.5%) was up slightly from a year ago. Visitor spending increased from U.S. West (+5.3% to $6.28 billion), U.S. East (+2.5% to $4.21 billion) and Japan (+0.9% to $1.98 billion), but declined from Canada (-2.8% to $945.5 million) and All Other International Markets (-11.8% to $2.54 billion). Year-to-date statewide average daily spending by visitors decreased to $195 per person (-2.2%). Visitors from U.S. East (+1.4% to $213) and Canada (+0.3% to $167) spent more per day, while visitors from Japan (-1.3% to $238), U.S. West (-0.8% to $174) and All Other International Markets (-9.7% to $217) spent less. Year-to-date, total visitor arrivals increased (+5.4% to 9,470,706) versus last year, with growth in arrivals by air service (+5.2% to 9,339,191) and cruise ships (+18.8% to 131,515). Visitor arrivals by air grew from U.S. West (+9.8% to 4,194,891), U.S. East (+3.7% to 2,049,703) and Japan (+3.4% to 1,408,808), offsetting fewer visitors from Canada (-1.7% to 470,914) and All Other International Markets (-2.0% to 1,214,874). Total visitor days rose 2.7 percent compared to the first 11 months of 2018. Oahu recorded year-to-date increases in visitor spending (+2.4% to $7.42 billion) and visitor arrivals (+5.5% to 5,634,042), but daily spending declined (-1.9%) compared to the first 11 months of 2018. Visitor spending on Maui also increased (+1.1% to $4.61 billion) as growth in visitor arrivals (+5.1% to 2,795,637) offset lower daily spending (-1.6%). The island of Hawaii reported declines in visitor spending (-2.8% to $2.06 billion) and daily spending (-3.5%), but visitor arrivals increased (+3.2% to 1,600,091). Kauai saw decreases in visitor spending (-5.8% to $1.73 billion), daily spending (-2.9%) and visitor arrivals (-1.5% to 1,250,458). Other Highlights: U.S. West: In November, visitor arrivals from the Mountain region increased 7.5 percent year-over-year, with growth in visitors from Nevada (+12.6%), Colorado (+7.9%), Utah (+6.3%) and Arizona (+5.9%). Arrivals from the Pacific region rose 5.1 percent with more visitors from California (+7.9%) and Oregon (+3.3%) offsetting fewer visitors from Washington (-2.9%). Year-to-date through November, visitor arrivals rose from the Mountain (+10.6%) and Pacific (+10.4%) regions compared to the same period last year. Daily visitor spending dropped slightly to $174 per person (-0.8%) as a result of decreases in transportation, food and beverage, and entertainment and recreation, while spending on lodging and shopping was similar to last year. U.S. East: In November, visitor arrivals increased from the New England (+11.8%), Mid Atlantic (+8.6%), East North Central (+7.6%), West North Central (+6.5%), West South Central (+4.8%) and South Atlantic (+4.8%) regions, but declined from the East South Central (-1.9%) region compared to a year ago. Year-to-date through November, visitor arrivals increased from every region. Daily visitor spending rose to $213 per person (+1.4%). Lodging and food and beverage expenses increased, while transportation expenses declined compared to last year. Japan: In November, more visitors went to multiple islands (+17.1%) year-over-year, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth in multiple-island visitation compared to the same time last year. Year-to-date through November, stays in timeshares (+14.7%), with friends and relatives (+5.5%), in hotels (+3.0%) and in condominiums (+1.0%) increased compared to a year ago. Average daily visitor spending decreased to $238 per person (-1.3%), primarily due to lower lodging and shopping expenses. Canada: In November, fewer visitors went to multiple islands (-4.4%) compared to a year ago. Fewer visitors purchased package trips (-3.6%) or made their own travel arrangements (-6.5%). Year-to-date through November, fewer visitors stayed in condominiums (-6.7%), timeshares (-2.7%) and hotels (-2.2%), while more visitors stayed with friends and relatives (+8.8%) compared to a year ago. Daily visitor spending of $167 per person (+0.3%) was up slightly from last year. Spending on food and beverage increased, but lodging and shopping expenses declined. -- [1] Aggregate number of days stayed by all visitors. [2] Average daily census is the average number of visitors present on a single day. View Full Release
About the Hawaii Tourism Authority
The Hawaii Tourism Authority is the State of Hawaii agency responsible for strategically managing its support of the tourism industry. Established in 1998 to support Hawaii’s leading industry and largest employer, HTA continually strives to help ensure tourism’s sustainability and the benefits it brings to residents and communities statewide. For more information about HTA, please visit www.hawaiitourismauthority.org.
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