Booked travel lately? The eye-popping prices may or may not have affected your decision to pay up.
And it works both ways. If the current cost of airfare has you on the fence, consider that those looking to vacation in Hawaiʻi may be reconsidering their travel plans as well.
The state just released its most recent visitor numbers, and the data shows a decline in both overall visitor numbers and total spending by visitors since 2025.
To learn more, HPR reached out to Omnitrak, a market researcher that tracks the visitor industry and helps hone strategies as prices soar.
HPR spoke with Omnitrak President and COO Chris Kam as we move into the last quarter of 2026 to ask: what’s the tipping point for travelers?
Interview Highlights
On the cause of rising costs
CHRIS KAM: We're facing headwinds. Inflation is a huge headwind, but on top of the usual inflationary headwinds, the U.S. Travel Association's travel price index was up 7% in August. Airfare index was up 23% year over year in August, and travel prices make a huge difference, and they're huge headwinds. … One important thing to remember is that it's not just Hawaii. Air travel passenger traffic through TSA checkpoints this summer was down 2.6%. … We've also got, beyond the inflation, we've got storms that seemingly come every other week. Now, it's like, is it a storm week? Is it not a storm week? And it's really hard to get people to book travel when there's a lot of uncertainty around the near-term and even medium-term weather conditions.
On how travelers adapt
KAM: People of diverse range of household incomes are continuing to travel. They've just changed their travel behaviors in order to keep continuing to travel. So those who would fly on a long-haul flight internationally, maybe they're traveling domestically. … People who are flying are switching to driving. People who are driving are switching to closer-to-home drive markets, and they're shortening the trips, and that's something I think we're seeing out here in Hawaiʻi, where the length of stay has dropped by a day, and people still want to travel; they just want to travel within their means and within their budget.
On the importance of visitor satisfaction
KAM: Visitors come and they will pay the extra amount of money that it takes. But along with their extra spending, they also tend to come with higher expectations that correlate with their higher spending, and so they don't want to feel that they're spending more for the same travel experience. … And when that happens, meeting their expectations is harder. Visitor satisfaction in such a travel environment can be a challenge, and it's up to the industry and all its partners to elevate the visitor experience as much as possible in the current environment, so that these visitors come and they come and come again.
As HPR tackles the topic of affordability, we’re asking listeners to share their experiences.
Have you put off travel plans because of rising prices? Do you avoid buying certain items at the grocery store? Share your stories with our talkback line at 808-792-8217 or email us at talkback@hawaiipublicradio.org.
This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 6, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
