Hawaii’s Slower Holiday Season Beckons Savvy Travelers

While the rest of the US is expecting record-setting travel from now into the new year, Hawaii is not. In part as a result of fewer visitors to Maui following the August fires, and for other reasons, Hawaii tourism isn’t quickly recovering. As a result two things are happening.

First is that the upcoming holiday season will not see the normal number of Hawaii visitor arrivals. In fact, some industry folk have indicated that Hawaii may not return to where it was before the Maui fires for up to five years.

As we previously reported, the state’s Hawaii Tourism (DEBDT) showed an ongoing decline in visitor arrivals for the latest month reported. Most of it is seen on Maui as shown below.

Hawaii tourism improvement for year-end holidays not assured.

Beat of Hawaii editors’ friend Jerry Gibson, president of the Hawaii Hotel Alliance, expressed optimism of some improvement still, especially for islands other than Maui which has still not been able to recover from an ongoing decline in tourism. In the image above, it continues to be 50 percent of normal.

Hawaii deals are still possible for 2023 holidays.

With hotels having greater availability than in previous years, especially on Maui, it’s a great time to look for the most unusual, holiday deals in Hawaii. Check all sources and never hesitate to contact a property directly to see if better pricing is possible.

Airlines too have have some opportunities where you can get to Hawaii for less over the upcoming holidays, from now through January 1, 2024. As we pointed out earlier today, one of the best opportunities is to fly via Los Angeles all of the Hawaiian Islands. On those routes, we still find round-trip airfares starting at $300+, depending on date. Be flexible on dates to score the best prices. And start your checking using Google Flights.

Hawaii visitors and spending in decline.

That’s been the case for the past two months as Hawaii Tourism recently reported, “both visitor arrivals and visitor spending decreased for the second consecutive month” in the the aftermath of the August Lahaina fires.

Hawaii’s tourism slump continues.

The Maui fire exacerbated what was likely going to happen anyway. Hawaii tourism has finally been impacted by runaway costs. And those issues are just for starters.