Fresh state data shows spending accelerating even as trip lengths shrink
Hawaii visitors spent $1.99 billion in July 2026, a 1.7% increase over July 2025, according to a news release from Gov. Josh Green’s office. Visitor arrivals also grew, reaching 883,248 for the month, up 1.1% from the 873,430 people who visited in July 2025.
The bigger story is in the year-to-date numbers. Through the first seven months of 2026, visitors spent $13.63 billion statewide, a 5.6% jump over the same stretch of 2025, while total arrivals climbed 2.3% to nearly 5.92 million people, according to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s own July report.
Visitors are spending more per day, even though they’re staying less time
Per-person, per-day spending hit $296 in July, a 17.1% increase from a year earlier, even as the average length of stay fell to 7.59 days, down 14.1% from July 2025’s 8.83 days. That combination of shorter trips and bigger daily spending pushed the statewide average daily visitor census down 13.1% to 216,319 people, meaning fewer visitors were on the islands on any given day even as total spending rose.
DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka said growth from several key markets is carrying the numbers. “Growth in visitor arrivals from U.S. West, U.S. East, Japan and Canada offset fewer visitors from other international markets,” he said in the department’s release. U.S. West arrivals reached 487,506 in July, generating $998.6 million in spending, while U.S. East visitors accounted for $629.8 million.
Maui’s recovery keeps climbing
Maui drew 247,857 visitors in July 2026, up 5.6% from the year before and equal to an 83.4% recovery compared with pre-wildfire July 2023, according to the state’s own figures. That’s a meaningful marker for an island that lost a large share of its visitor traffic after the August 2023 Lahaina fires. Three years on, the state’s numbers suggest travelers are returning to West Maui in growing numbers even as the broader visitor mix across the islands keeps shifting toward shorter, higher-spending trips rather than the longer stays that used to define a Hawaii vacation.
