Hawaiʻi’s tourism industry saw a modest boost in May 2025, with 771,038 visitor arrivals—a 1.0% increase from May 2024—and a 3.7% rise in spending, totaling $1.68 billion. Compared to May 2019, spending was up 18.9%, signaling continued recovery. Most visitors—766,377—arrived by air, primarily from the U.S. West and East, while cruise arrivals dropped by 14.0% to 4,661. Despite this overall growth, Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism cautioned that “air service from U.S., Japan and Canada is scheduled to decrease” and a “soft summer” is expected due to ongoing political and economic uncertainties.
Visitor trends in Hawaii showed mixed results. Arrivals from the U.S. West rose by 1.8 percent compared to last year, and spending from this group increased by 8.2 percent. Their spending was also 47.4 percent higher than in May 2019. In contrast, Canadian visitor numbers dropped by 8.0 percent, with a 10.2 percent decrease in spending. The average length of stay in May was 8.47 days, slightly down from 8.51 days last year but up from 8.37 days in May 2019. "We have been hearing from our partners that the average booking window for a trip to Hawaii is about 120 days, however, they are still seeing bookings in the month for the month," showing a trend of more short-notice travel planning, as reported by the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.
In the first five months of 2025, Hawaiʻi saw a 2.8% increase in visitor arrivals compared to the same period in 2024, along with a 6.5% rise in visitor spending, reaching $8.99 billion. While transpacific air seat capacity dipped slightly by 1.0% from May 2024, the tourism industry continues to show steady progress toward pre-pandemic recovery levels, as stated by the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.
