Hawaii is still a year away from a full return to prepandemic levels of tourism, according to Mufi Hannemann, president and CEO of the Hawaii Lodging &Tourism Association.
During the recent spring break surge, the total number of visitors was 11% behind what it was in 2019, due in part to COVID-19 restrictions in several Asian countries.
“Spring break went very well,” Hannemann said Monday during a livestream interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “But we’re still running around 11% behind what we were in 2019.”
Despite fewer travelers, the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism confirmed total spending by visitors was up in March 2022 compared to 2019. Travelers spent $1.53 billion in March 2022, as compared to $1.49 billion in March 2019.
The lack of visitors from Japan was significant. About 4,000 visitors came from Japan in March 2022, compared to more than 133,000 from the same month in 2019. Japanese visitors spent just $11.8 million in March 2022, compared to $185.2 million in 2019, a nearly 93% decrease.
An influx of Japanese visitors occurs annually during Golden Week, a series of four consecutive holidays from April 29 until May 5. This year, Golden Week resulted in just 879 tourists flying in from Japan, a big drop from 2019, which reported more than 7,000 individuals in one day.
“It’s going to take a while to build up Japanese travel again,” said Hannemann. “We aren’t going to see the numbers of Golden Week prepandemic. Seven (thousand) to 10,000 Japanese visitors a day is not going to happen. We’d be lucky to get 500 or 600.”
In terms of a full recovery, Hannemann said: “You won’t see that happening this year. Maybe 2023 at the earliest.”
Gov. David Ige met with Hiroyuki Takashi, head of the Japanese travel agency JTB Corp., in April, shortly after Japan lifted its cap on international arrivals up to 10,000 per day. Hannemann referred to the group as “quality visitors.”
“Japanese love Hawaii, and they tend to be the kind of tourists that we like to see come here. They spend, they circulate, and appreciate our cultural heritage,” said Hannemann. “At the end of the day, they’re the model visitors.”
The delay in tourism numbers has helped ease the hospitality industry back into business, having suffered from a labor shortage during the pandemic.
“That robust spring break vacation that came here was what I call a preseason practice,” he said. “It will help get us to a point where we’re ready to go forward and do all we can to bring people back to work.”
Funds may be provided by the recently passed House Bill 1147. Originally a capital improvements bill, an amendment altered the text to allocate $60 million in recurring general funds for the DBEDT to give to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. The bill still needs approval from the House and Senate on final reading and, if approved, will be sent to Gov. Ige for consideration.
“This is the greatest industry that employs the greatest number of people. That takes a lot of collaboration,” Hannemann said. “The Hawaii Tourism Authority has really made a dramatic shift in destination management marketing, and the Legislature understands that.”
Additional improvements to tourism mentioned by Hannemann were the passing of short-term rental legislation, the implementation of user impact fees, and the development of the Makaukau Hawaii “We are Ready” program, designed to help safeguard travel.
“We’re making giant strides with the government now with short-term rentals, with impact fees,” said Hannemann. “It’s going to take all of us coming together and recognizing what we need to do.”
The pandemic also provided insight into adjustments the tourism industry can make to improve.
“Every crisis presents an opportunity to do things better,” Hannemann said. “Until we find that economic diversification initiative that will replace tourism, or come close to supplementing or complimenting tourism, we still have to figure out how we can do this better.”
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com