2024 Visitor Numbers Show Continued Decline

By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor

Visitor numbers and expenditures on Molokai have fallen over the past year, continuing the downward trend seen since 2019. The Hawaii Dept. of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) recently released their data for visitor statistics to Hawaii for December 2024, and 2024 as a whole. While tourism has increased statewide by 0.3 percent, totaling at 9,689,113, Molokai’s visitor numbers decreased by over 10 percent in 2024, totalling 29,844. Likewise, visitor expenditures on Molokai fell nearly 12 percent in 2024, down to about $30 million from $34 million in 2023.

Molokai averaged 468 visitors per day in 2024, down from 496 in 2023, and the lowest in the state.

Molokai and Lanai have a very similar daily census for visitors, with Lanai only averaging 14 more visitors per day. On Lanai however, visitors stay for less days on average but spend almost four times as much money per trip – resulting in an expenditure of over $117 million in visitor spending on Lanai.

In comparison to 2019, Molokai visitor numbers have fallen over 52 percent, from over 63,000 visitors in 2019, according to the recent DBEDT data. Visitor spending on Molokai has likewise decreased, falling 16 percent from 2019. The number of visitors to Molokai has slowed dramatically over the last 20 years. In 2007, for instance, over 86,000 visitors came to Molokai.

According to DBEDT, the reason for the drop in tourism numbers for Molokai can be attributed to the decrease in airline capacity, as Molokai shrank from three airlines to just one in 2021.

For this study, a “visitor” is defined as someone who is not a Hawaii resident, regardless of where they stay or whether they own real estate in Hawaii.

You can check out more data from the Hawaii Dept. of Business, Economic Development and Tourism at dbedt.hawaii.gov.