October -- and its reopening of tourism -- couldn't have come at a better time for Hawaii.
In September, the last month prior to the launch of Hawaii's pretravel testing program, visitation to the Aloha State was 97% below the traffic seen during the same period in 2019.
Additionally, total visitors to the state are down 72% through the first nine months of the year compared with the first three quarters of 2019, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Visitation to Hawaii diminished to a trickle after the state imposed a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arrivals in its efforts to combat the spread of coronavirus. On Oct. 15 the state launched a pretravel testing program, seen as the reboot of its tourism industry, and those who follow specific guidelines and test negative can now forgo the quarantine.
In September, 18,868 visitors landed in the state, compared with 736,155 visitors who came to the Islands during September 2019.
After welcoming a record 10.4 million visitors in 2019, just 2.2 million have come to Hawaii through the first nine months of 2020. Total visitor days decreased 67% through September, compared with the same period in 2019.
Not surprisingly, Hawaii's hotels also reported significant declines in business during the first three quarters of the year. For September, revenue per available room (RevPAR), average daily rate (ADR) and occupancy all fell dramatically when compared to September 2019. While occupancy dropped 59 percentage points to 20%, RevPAR decreased 85% to $29, and ADR dropped 40%, to $149. Total statewide hotel room revenues decreased 91% to $26.6 million in September.