The daily count of visitors in Hawaii and their daily spending dropped in February — the seventh monthly decline in a row since the Aug. 8 Maui wildfires, according to preliminary statistics released today by the Department of Business, Economic Development & tourism (DBEDT).
In February, DBEDT reported that on average there were 236,008 visitors each day in the Hawaiian islands, down 3.2% from the daily visitor census in February 2023, and a decrease of 4.4% from February 2019. Visitors spent $57.1 million per day on average in February, a 2.4% decline from February 2023 but up 15.2% from February 2019.
Since 2024 is a leap year, the daily comparison is more accurate. Monthly results reflected the loss of a day in 2019 and 2023.
This February, 772,480 visitors came to the Hawaiian islands and spent $1.64 billion. Arrivals were 2.5% better than February 2023, but 1.1% below February 2019. Visitor expenditures were 1.1 % higher than in February 2023 and 19.3% higher than in…