HONOLULU, HI – According to preliminary visitor statistics released by the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), a total of 900,800 visitors arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in March 2023, an increase of 14.2 percent from March 2022. When compared to 2019, the benchmark year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this represents a 97.0 percent recovery in total visitor arrivals from March 2019. As measured in nominal dollars, these visitors spent $1.84 billion in March 2023, up from $1.53 billion (+20.4%) in March 2022 and $1.49 billion (+23.4%) in March 2019.

In March 2023, 892,239 visitors arrived by air service, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Additionally, 8,561 visitors arrived by cruise ships during the month. In March 2022, 785,715 visitors arrived by air (+13.6%) and 3,216 visitors came by cruise ships (+166.2%). In March 2019, 917,026 visitors arrived by air (-2.7%) and 11,824 visitors came by cruise ships (-27.6%). The average length of stay by all visitors in March 2023 was 8.69 days, compared to 8.91 days (-2.5%) in March 2022 and 8.36 days (+4.0%) in March 2019. The statewide average daily census[1] was252,633 visitors in March 2023, compared to 226,857 visitors (+11.4%) in March 2022 and 250,528 visitors (+0.8%) in March 2019.

In March 2023, 464,295 visitors arrived from the U.S. West, compared to 452,752 (+2.5%) in March 2022 and 399,049 visitors (+16.4%) in March 2019. U.S. West visitors spent $838.5 million in March 2023, compared to $805.5 million (+4.1%) in March 2022 and $578.1 million (+45.1%) in March 2019. Daily spending by U.S. West visitors in March 2023 ($220 per person) was up slightly from March 2022 ($215 per person, +2.4%), but was much higher compared to March 2019 ($176 per person, +25.4%).

There were 245,466 visitors from the U.S. East in March 2023, compared to 233,286 visitors (+5.2%) in March 2022 and 225,648 visitors (+8.8%) in March 2019. U.S. East visitors spent $577.3 million in March 2023, compared to $507.0 million (+13.9%) in March 2022 and $404.5 million (+42.7%) in March 2019. Daily spending by U.S. East visitors in March 2023 ($257 per person) increased in comparison to March 2022 ($237 per person, +8.5%) and March 2019 ($201 per person, +27.8%).

There were 40,039 visitors from Japan in March 2023, compared to 4,038 visitors (+891.6%) in March 2022 and 133,858 visitors (-70.1%) in March 2019. Visitors from Japan spent $61.3 million in March 2023, compared to $11.8 million (+419.0%) in March 2022 and $185.2 million (-66.9%) in March 2019. Daily spending by Japanese visitors in March 2023 ($232 per person) increased compared to March 2022 ($224 per person, +3.4%), but was lower than March 2019 ($238 per person, -2.5%).

In March 2023, 64,377 visitors arrived from Canada, compared to 54,475 visitors (+18.2%) in March 2022 and 76,913 visitors (-16.3%) in March 2019. Visitors from Canada spent $162.4 million in March 2023, compared to $116.1 million (+39.9%) in March 2022 and $139.8 million (+16.2%) in March 2019. Daily spending by Canadian visitors in March 2023 ($213 per person) increased significantly, compared to March 2022 ($173 per person, +23.4%), and March 2019 ($158 per person, +35.4%).

There were 78,062 visitors from All Other International Markets in March 2023, which included visitors from Oceania, Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Guam, Philippines, and the Pacific Islands. In comparison, there were 41,164 visitors (+89.6%) from All Other International Markets in March 2022 and 81,558 visitors (-4.3%) in March 2019.

In March 2023, a total of 5,431 trans-Pacific flights with 1,199,482 seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands, compared to 5,573 flights (-2.5%) with 1,161,904 seats (+3.2%) in March 2022, and 5,445 flights (-0.3%) with 1,192,137 (+0.6%) in March 2019.

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Statement by DBEDT Director Chris J. Sadayasu:

The tourism industry was busy in March 2023 with over 900,000 visitors, the second-highest monthly figure in the last three years. While U.S. visitor arrivals remained high, visitation from international markets was the highest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic at 182,478 arrivals and represented a 62.4 percent recovery from the same month in 2019. Arrivals from Japan and Canada in March were at the highest volumes since the beginning of the pandemic.

Japanese visitor arrivals recovered about 30 percent in March, and it is expected that the Japanese market will recover to 50 percent by the end of this year.

The tourism statistics for March 2023 were consistent with the other public Hawai‘i data released earlier this month: job counts in the hospitality sector increased by 11 percent, the hotel occupancy rate increased by 1.7 percentage points, and the transient accommodations tax increased 17.1 percent this March as compared with the same month in 2022.