If there’s one thing that people have missed most during Covid, and there are a lot of them, it’s travel. And Hawaii is always near the very top of travel planning domestically and internationally.
Bellwether Hawaiian Airlines’ CEO said, “We’ve seen a great recovery in terms of demand for domestic leisure travel and demand domestically for travel into Hawaii… Demand is very strong.”
Hawaii saw record tourism in 2019, both domestic, and international. Every sign was that tourism would continue growing, whether we could handle it or not. Globally, too, tourism was on a tear, until Covid hit. Now it’s time to reset. Following two full years of Covid, travelers are once again making big Hawaii vacation plans.
The United Nations, which monitors global tourism, said that tourism will return to pre-Covid numbers within the next 24 months. In Hawaii, for various reasons, that’s happening far sooner.
Fewer options resulted from rescheduled vacations plus new ones.
Hawaii-bound visitors have postponed countless vacations, as you’ve noted repeatedly in the comments. In some cases, you’ve postponed Hawaii vacations two or three times.
But now, at long last, those vacations have been rescheduled. Adding new wanderlust demand to those rescheduled Hawaii vacations has resulted in a shortage of availability. That’s especially true in the uber-popular vacation rental sector.
50% of Covid-postponed Hawaii vacations will take place in 2022.
One travel insurance provider reported that about 50% of the vacations that were canceled for 2020 and 2021 are going to take place in 2022. Berkshire Travel Protection said that according to their survey, about 4% plan to cancel those prior plans entirely, and another 6% are postponing them beyond 2022.
Slim Pickings for 2022 Hawaii vacations.
The most desirable of Hawaii locations are seeing extremely limited availability, especially for accommodations, and car rentals. Last week we also wrote about what’s happening with Hawaii restaurants too.
Those of you who are on the fence about 2022, or even 2023 Hawaii travel, would do well to make decisions sooner than later and protect the opportunity to have the best selection. Limited availability is impacting all of the Hawaiian islands. The least availability will be for mid-June through mid-August, and for the end-of-year holidays.
Hawaii domestic arrivals are already eclipsing 2019 levels, and that is even before the next tourism wave gets underway.
This week’s elimination of Covid restrictions will lead to a further travel surge.
Hawaii travel has been on the upswing since last fall. Starting this week, Hawaii will lift the remaining Covid restrictions including the requirement for pre-travel testing or proof of vaccination for travelers arriving from within the U.S.
Demand for Hawaii travel starting this week will escalate dramatically. And it isn’t just domestic travel that’s taking off, as was the case until now. Hawaiian Airlines just said, “we’re gearing up in anticipation of the Japanese market.” Japan represents the single largest source of international visitors to Hawaii, which typically amounts to 1.5 million arrivals per year. And it isn’t just Japan; Australian and Koren visitors are planning to return too, as are Europeans and others.
Hawaii cruises are back.
Add to domestic demand the return of highly popular Hawaii cruises. This year, for example, Hawaii expects to host 150 cruise ship itineraries, including weekly NCL Pride of America, all-Hawaii island cruise sailings.
Pride of America is set to restart weekly sailings around the Hawaiian islands next month.
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We went in past March and it was great , not to crowded and plenty of places to go , the Road to Hana wasn’t that bad to,
I traveled to Hawaii 2x during the pandemic (Kauai). Even then, rental cars were obscenely expensive and hard to find. Housing was expensive, but available. It was great to experience Hawaii without the huge crowds! I would like to go again this spring/summer. It will be interesting to compare the difference.
Not just Hawaii, but many things are in short supple and more expensive.
You can sit back and complain or try to do something about it.
If you plan far enough ahead they’re still Hawaiian travel deals to be had. Switch to a different island, we found two great deals on BI doing this.
Get a cash paying side gig, couples are disparately looking for part time child and animal sitters.
If you want to travel to Hawaii bad enough you’ll find away to do it.
I came across a website for Go Rent-a-Car Maui. These were 6 to 7-year-old cars at 40% of the rates quoted on other websites. Almost too good to be true. Has anybody heard of them?
No, but I’ve had a decent experience with Turo.
Aloha Rob Jeff. Shebang!!! I have noticed in looking at previous condo rentals that the price has doubled. Am wondering how that will affect the influx of travellers. It’s pretty outrageous actually. It is going to become only affordable for the wealthy. Guess that’s the whole idea. Keep up the great work. Mahalo.
Hi Debra.
Thanks for your input. Yes, we too are seeing the same thing. Not long ago we could go over to Honolulu and say overnight at a fairly nice place for a reasonable price. That has now doubled or more.
Aloha.