As 2024 came to a close, Hawaii tourism overall saw positive statistics. Here is an in depth look at it and how it relates to vacation rentals.
Total Hawaii Visitors
Overall the visitors to Hawaii stayed somewhat stable. There was a descent increase in international visitors and a slight decrease in domestic visitors. Although there was minimal change in actual visitors, there was a 2.5% decrease in average stays. This is more than likely related to the increase in international visitors as they typically stay less nights than domestic visitors.
Most Popular Island
Oahu is typically the most visited island anyway, but is 2024 saw the largest increase in visitors as well. In fact, Oahu was the only island of the major islands that saw an increase from 2023 to 2024. The Big Island fared the best with only a 2.4% decrease. Interestingly enough, Maui saw a 6% decrease and this even takes into account a couple of months in 2023 that the island was accepting minimal visitors to the fires.
Accommodations of Choice
Hotels and timeshares faired the best in 2024. Hotels saw a close to 3% increase and timeshares roughly a 2.5% increase. All of this came at the cost of vacation rentals as they saw over a 9% decrease.
Some things to take into consideration for this difference is that vacation rentals saw substantial increases in 2021-2023 due to COVID19 and the desire to vacation in spaces where there were not a lot of people. Obviously this is changing now. Also during COVID19 and shortly after many hotels took the time to convert some rooms to function more like a vacation rental as well as adding timeshares.
Another interesting note is that people staying at campgrounds or things of that nature decreased by over 20%.
Other Important Statistics to Consider
The average age of guests visiting to Hawaii is 46. With understanding of what marketing avenues this age group uses, it helps to understand where these people are booking.
There was an increase in repeat guests to the islands with the average guest being here close to 3 times, which means repeat business continues to be very important on the islands. At Kolea at Waikoloa Beach Resort there is even a higher percentage of repeat guests.
Looking into 2025
Currently 2025 looks to be a better year than 2024 in almost all categories. Given we are just over a month into 2025, it is hard to tell if this is a statistic that will stick, but currently it looks good.