While Hawaii welcomed more visitors in January 2019 than January 2018, visitor spending, hotel occupancy and revenue per available room were all down year over year for the first month of 2019.
Visitors to the Aloha State spent $1.62 billion in January, a roughly 4% decrease compared to the same period last year, according to preliminary statistics released by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Additionally, statewide RevPAR declined to $238, a 2% drop, and the hotel occupancy rate fell to just below 80%, a nearly 3% drop from January 2018.
Meanwhile, the average daily rate at Hawaiian hotels increased by 1%, to $299.
Visitation to the Hawaiian Islands was up 3%, to 820,621, in January. The average daily spend per visitor was down compared to January 2018, however, dropping 5% to $199 per person.
Oahu was the only county to buck the downward trend in visitor spending. The state's most populous island recorded 7% increases in both visitor spending and visitor arrivals, while Maui, Kauai and the Island of Hawaii registered decreases in visitor spending.
Hawaii hotel room revenues fell in January approximately 4%, to $391.4 million, with nearly 25,000 fewer available room nights in the month compared to a year ago.