News Releases
Hawaii Visitor Statistics Released for December 2020
For Immediate Release: January 28, 2021
HTA Release (21-02)
21-02 December 2020 Visitor Statistics Press Release
HONOLULU – Hawaii’s visitor industry continues to be severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, visitor arrivals dropped 75.2 percent compared to a year ago, according to preliminary statistics released by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s (HTA) Tourism Research Division.
This past December, a total of 235,793 visitors traveled to Hawaii by air service, compared to 952,441 visitors who came by air service and cruise ships in December 2019. Most of the visitors were from the U.S. West (151,988, -63.7%) and U.S. East (71,537, -66.8%). In addition, 3,833 came from Canada (-94.0%) and 1,889 visitors came from Japan (-98.6%). There were 6,547 visitors from All Other International Markets (-93.8%). Many of these visitors were from Guam, and a small number of visitors were from Other Asia, Europe, Latin America, Oceania, Philippines and Pacific Islands. Total visitor days declined 66.9 percent compared to December 2019.
Beginning October 15, passengers arriving from out-of-state and traveling inter-county could bypass the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a Trusted Testing and Travel Partner through the state’s Safe Travels program. Effective November 24, all trans-Pacific travelers participating in the pre-travel testing program were required to have a negative test result before their departure to Hawai‘i, and test results would no longer be accepted once a traveler arrived in Hawai‘i. On December 2, Kauai County temporarily suspended its participation in the state’s Safe Travels program, making it mandatory for all travelers to Kauai to quarantine upon arrival. On December 10, the mandatory quarantine was reduced from 14 to 10 days in accordance with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guidelines. The counties of Hawai‘i, Maui, and Kalawao (Molokai) also had a partial quarantine in place in December. In addition, the CDC continued to enforce the “No Sail Order” on all cruise ships.