In May 2020, visitor arrivals to the Hawaiian Islands decreased 98.9 percent compared to a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Tourism Research Division.
All passengers arriving from out-of-state and traveling interisland during May were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine. Exemptions include travel for essential reasons like work or healthcare. In May, Governor David Ige’s “Stay-at-Home” order transitioned to the “Safer-at-Home” order, then eventually the state entered the “Act with Care” phase. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also continued to enforce its “No Sail Order” on all cruise ships.
In May, a total of 9,116 visitors traveled to Hawaii by air service compared to 841,376 total visitors (by air and cruise ships) during the same period a year ago. Most of the visitors were from U.S. West (5,842, -98.5%) and U.S. East (2,647, -98.7%). A few visitors came from Japan (14, -100.0%) and Canada (20, -99.9%). There were 593 visitors from All Other International Markets (-99.4%), most of whom were visiting from Guam. Total visitor days dropped 96.3 percent year-over-year.
A total of 97,753 trans-Pacific air seats serviced the Hawaiian Islands in May, down 91.3 percent from a year ago. There were no direct flights or scheduled seats from U.S. East, Japan, Canada, Oceania, and Other Asia, and very few scheduled seats from U.S. West (-88.3%) and Other countries (-58.1%).
Year-to-Date 2020
In the first five months of 2020, total visitor arrivals dropped 49.5 percent to 2,139,166 visitors, with significantly fewer arrivals by air service (-49.3% to 2,109,375) and by cruise ships (-60.7% to 29,792) compared to the same period a year ago. Total visitor days fell 46.3 percent.
Year-to-date, visitor arrivals by air service decreased from U.S. West (-49.3% to 917,741), U.S. East (-44.5% to 518,185), Japan (-51.6% to 294,255), Canada (-46.5% to 155,764) and All Other International Markets (-57.4% to 223,430).
U.S. West: In May, 4,357 visitors arrived from the Pacific region compared to 292,106 visitors a year ago, and 1,443 visitors came from the Mountain region compared to 88,487 a year ago. Through the first five months of 2020, visitor arrivals declined substantially from both the Pacific (-50.5% to 693,435) and Mountain (-45.3% to 204,167) regions compared to the same period a year ago.
U.S. East: Through the first five months of 2020, visitor arrivals dropped considerably from all regions. The three largest regions, East North Central (-43.7% to 109,887), South Atlantic (-50.6% to 94,545) and West North Central (-3 2.8% to 94,095) saw considerable decreases compared to the first five months of 2019.
Japan: In May, 14 visitors arrived from Japan compared to 113,218 visitors a year ago.Year-to-date, arrivals declined 51.6 percent to 294,255 visitors.
Canada: In May, 20 visitors arrived from Canada compared to 25,794 visitors a year ago. Year-to-date, arrivals dropped to 155,764 visitors (-4 6.5%).
Australia: Two visitors traveled to Hawai‘i in May compared to 26,317 visitors a year ago. Through the first five months of 2020, arrivals decreased 53.3 percent to 50,072 visitors.
New Zealand: There were 21 visitors in May versus 7,401 visitors a year ago. Through the first five months of 2020, arrivals declined to 10,708 visitors (-58.8%).
China: There were 16visitors in May compared to 8,199 visitors a year ago. Year-to-date, arrivals decreased 77.4 percent to 9,975 visitors.
Korea: There were 21visitors in May versus 16,026 visitors a year ago. Through the first fivemonths of 2020, arrivals fell 55.7 percent to 41,650 visitors.
Taiwan: There were seven visitors in May compared to 5,798 visitors a year ago. Year-to-date, arrivals dropped 71.2 percent to 3,460 visitors.
Europe: There were 25 visitors from Europe (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland) in May versus 10,255 visitors a year ago. Through the first five months of 2020,arrivals decreased 55.7 percent to 20,444 visitors.
Latin America: There were 11 visitors from Latin America (Mexico, Brazil and Argentina) in Maycompared to 2,573 visitors a year ago. Year-to-date, arrivals dropped 55.2 percent to 5,074 visitors.
Island Highlights
O‘ahu
In May, total visitor days fell 94.9 percent compared to a year ago. There were 6,587 visitors on O‘ahu in May compared to 503,814 visitors year-over-year. Through the first five months of 2020, visitor arrivals decreased 50.3 percent to 1,232,750 visitors.
Maui
In May, total visitor days declined 98.4 percent from a year ago. There were 1,054 visitors on Maui in May versus 249,208 visitors a year ago. Year-to-date, arrivals dropped 50.8 percent to 604,888 visitors.
Kaua‘i
In May, total visitor days decreased 97.9 percent compared to a year ago. There were 571 visitors on Kaua‘i in May compared to 111,463 visitors a year ago. Through the first five months of 2020, visitor arrivals decreased 48.8 percent to 282,559 visitors.
Hawai‘i Island
In May, visitor days decreased 95.7 percent from a year ago. There were 1,257 visitors on Hawai‘i Island in May compared to 138,792 visitors a year ago. Through the first fivemonths of 2020, arrivals dropped 46.0 percent to 392,100 visitors.
