Hawaii's tourism is seeing a positive start to 2025, with an increase in visitor numbers at the beginning of the year. According to the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), January saw a 3.8 percent increase in visitor arrivals compared to last year, tallying up to 792,177 souls soaking up the archipelago's sun, surf, and aloha spirit. In the visitors' wake is the swell of cash flow—$1.89 billion to be precise—a 4.7 percent rise from January 2024.
In January, visitor numbers were nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, with a 96.9 percent recovery compared to January 2019, missing the mark by 3.1 percent. Revenue has increased by 17.2 percent since the pre-COVID period. There was an increase in visitors from the U.S. West and U.S. East, with most arrivals traveling by air, and a rise in out-of-state cruise ship arrivals, which contributed to growth in Hawaii's maritime tourism sector.
In January, the average length of stay for visitors was 9.67 days, slightly shorter than last year’s 9.85 days and 9.94 days in 2019. The state recorded an average of 247,179 visitors per day, reflecting a 1.8 percent increase from last year, though still lower than in 2019. Visitors from the U.S. West and East spent more per day compared to both the previous year and pre-pandemic levels.
Hawaii saw a decline in international visitors from Japan and Canada in January. Arrivals from Japan were down by 54.9 percent, and from Canada, they dropped by 22.0 percent compared to January 2019. Japanese visitors spent $83.2 million, which, while providing some support to the travel industry, is lower than the $173.4 million spent in pre-pandemic times. The Canadian market showed a slight increase in arrivals but experienced a decrease in total spending.
Air capacity showed a 2.9 percent increase in flights and a 1.9 percent rise in available seats compared to January 2024, indicating ongoing investment in accessibility, despite a slight decrease in flights compared to 2019. Oahu led in both visitor numbers and spending, while Maui, 18 months after the wildfire, saw an increase, along with Kauai and Hawaii Island, which contributed to the state's revenue.
The cruise industry saw a strong start in January 2025, with 19,028 passengers arriving aboard out-of-state cruise ships, the second-highest January total since 1999. DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka stated, "Hawaii’s tourism industry had a positive start to the new year with growth in both total visitor arrivals and visitor spending in January 2025, which marked the sixth consecutive month of increases in these key indicators," suggesting a favorable outlook for the year ahead, in a statement obtained by DBEDT.
