Visitors to Hawaiʻi are now arriving at about two-thirds of the pace of pre-COVID days. But while the industry bounces back, it’s also accommodating pre-pandemic concerns about over-tourism.
Hawaiʻi greeted nearly 7 million visitors in 2021. That’s up 150% from the 2.7 million who arrived in 2020, but still 35% below 2019’s record-breaking year.
When PBN gathered four tourism executives for a roundtable on the state of the industry, the evidence showed not all parts of the industry have bounced back equally.
Joshua Hargrove, general manager of Prince Waikiki, says a sister property on Hawaiʻi Island exceeded its 2019 revenue performance last year, but not so at his Oʻahu property.
Restrictions on events and group sizes cut into revenues from banquets and meetings, and the Waikīkī property appeals more to international visitors, who have not returned in the same numbers.
Another struggling market is meetings, conventions and incentive travel — running at about 20% of normal.
Part of that is because of restrictions on group sizes, but it also shows the unpredictability of the pandemic and related policies, as everything from weddings to professional conventions needs certainty for their planning.
Still, as the numbers recover, the industry is mindful of community fears about over-tourism.
Over the past two years, the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority has developed specific Destination Management Action Plans for each county.
There have been some successes, such as a new stewardship program for Pololū Valley on Hawaiʻi Island, and some unintended consequences.
For example, as Maui cracked down on illegal vacation rentals in neighborhoods, budget travelers found a new way to see Hawaiʻi on the cheap: renting camper vans and parking them wherever they can.
