Daily visitor spending may be up, but economists say overall revenue is still down
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaii visitors are spending more per day now than in days before the pandemic, according to new data from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
DEBEDT says tourists are shelling out about $186 a day, which is a jump of more than 12% from July 2019. But with a more than 11.5% drop in visitor arrivals, overall spending for the month of July is still down comparatively by nearly 7%.
“These record numbers were aided by pent up consumer demand, an excess supply of aircraft, limited choices for international summer travel and an influx of federal stimulus money. The overall rate of recovery in July was at 88% with very limited international arrivals (2%),” DBEDT Director Mike McCartney said.
DEBEDT also compiled data on where visitors are coming to Hawaii from. They say Hawaii continues to see high volumes of travelers from the U.S. West and East Coast, even higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Through the first seven months of 2021, visitor spending was totaled at $6.60 billion, which is a 37.5% drop from the $10.55 billion spent through the same time period of 2019.
Click here for a full breakdown of the numbers.
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