Oahu residents stay hopeful despite steady decline in both tourism and tourist spending

By Shanila Kabir

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    HONOLULU (KITV) — There has been a steady decline in both the number of tourists and tourist spending in Hawaii. That is according to the latest numbers from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) compared this month to October 2022.

The number of visitors is down by more 7% compared to 2022. This translates to a decrease of more than $1.2 billion in visitor spending.

The devastation from the Lahaina fires is a big part of the decline.

“Our initial plan was to go to Maui but since everything that happened there and it was so tragic, we didn’t want to go there. We chose Oahu instead,” said Jade A., a visitor from California.

However, several residents in Waikiki said there are other factors for the lower numbers, like this time of year.

A manager at a food truck, Destiny Sakaguchi-Brown, said October is a slow month because it is after the summer and people are saving up for the holidays. She expects beaches to start filling up as we get closer to the holidays.

“How it works is people come to Hawaii during the summer and save money while they’re home so they can come back during the holidays. It is pretty normal for there to be less foot traffic in October but fingers crossed, we’re preparing for the upcoming months,” Sakaguchi-Brown said.

A visitor from Washington, D.C. told Island News prices are even higher in Hawaii on top of inflation so he made sure to cut down on his spending. He said he understands Hawaii relies heavily on tourism but saving money on vacation is popular for many people right now.

Officials at DBEDT said with the reopening of West Maui earlier this month, tourism on Maui is expected to improve over the next few months.

“Daily passengers went from 2,000 back up to 4,000. This is a quick improvement and a sign that we will be back on our feet,” said Eugene Tian, Hawaii state economist.

Many residents believe it is a combination of many things: inflation, fewer workers, Christmas is coming up and families are saving their money for holiday gifts. Despite the drop in tourism, people remain hopeful.

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