Christine Hitt
Here's some good news for Hawaii's economy: A new economic report by the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) said that the Islands' pandemic recovery is "largely complete."
Other highlights: Per-person visitor spend was strong last year, and room rates are rising across the Islands, with the exception of in Maui. "In December, inflation-adjusted room rates on the Big Island were 44% higher than their 2019 level," the report said.
Maui recovery continues
The report reiterated that Maui's post-fire recovery is stronger than expected. However, though visitor arrivals to Maui recovered half of its losses by the end of last year, the report says that the Maui visitor industry still has a long road ahead and will take many more years to make a full recovery.
"Barriers to recovery will include the necessary use of hotel rooms and other visitor accommodations to house recovery and reconstruction workers in the near term; highway congestion and persistent resource constraints; and reluctance by some travelers to choose Maui as a travel destination until recovery is much further along," the UHERO report says.
Japanese visitors holding back
"The biggest barrier to full tourism recovery will continue to be the Japanese market, held back by inflation at home and a very weak yen abroad," the report says.
There were 52,911 visitors from Japan this January, according to a separate report by the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. That's significantly higher than January last year (32,305) but lower than January 2019 (120,418).
Other markets outside of Japan are expected to return to 2019 levels by the end of the decade. In the case of Japan, however, UHERO said it's "pessimistic."
"Because of a shrinking and aging population, and possibly changing attitudes about long-haul travel, the number of Japanese visitors at the end of the decade will be 12% lower than the average for the 2015-2019 period. Even then, Japan will remain the second-largest visitor market after the U.S.," the UHERO report said.