While the total number of visitors arriving in April throughout the entire Aloha State was slightly down from the previous year, total spending by those visitors increased quite a bit more compared with April 2025.
Preliminary statistics from Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism show visitors spent a total of $1.77 billion throughout the state in April, the most recent month data is available, which is a 4.8% increase from $1.69 billion from the same month in 2025.
There were 828,959 total visitors to the islands in April, a decrease of just 0.5% from 833,219 visitors in April 2025
Monthly visitor data for April on individual islands was not yet available.
Visitors who arrived in April spent significantly more on an average daily basis, at $278 per person, or 14.1% more than the same month in 2025.
There were 801,335 visitors arriving by air in April, mainly from the U.S. West and U.S. East. Another 27,624 visitors arrived via out-of-state cruise ships.
That’s 1.1% less than April 2025 for visitors arriving by air but a whopping 20.4% spike in out-of-state cruise ship visitors from the previous year.
“Despite fewer visitors from the U.S. West, increased average daily spending contributed to growth in total U.S. West visitor expenditures,” said Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism Director James Kunane Tokioka.
A total of 435,359 visitors arrived in April from from the U.S. West, a disappointing 4.8% decrease from the 457,248 in April 2025, but total spending by those visitors was $903.4 million, up more than $45 million from a year before.
U.S. West visitors spent an average of $283, up by just $4 from the year before.
Meanwhile, visitors from the U.S. East in April increased 26.3% to 209,756 compared with 180,383 during the same month in 2025. The East Coast visitors spent a total of $530.4 million in April at an average of $296 per person, or $81.3 million more total and $19 more per person than the same month a year before.
Another bright spot were visitor numbers from Japan.
A total of 55,512 visitors arrived in April, a 6% increase from 52,358 visitors in April 2025. Plus, of those total visitors, 55,260 from Japan arrived on international flights and another 252 on domestic flights.
Total spending by Japanese visitors in April this year was $80.6 million, up from the $77.4 million in April 2025, with average daily spending at $247 per person, slightly up from $245 from the same month last year.
“We are pleased to see positive growth in both visitor spending and visitor arrivals from the U.S. East and Japan in April 2026,” Tokioka said, tempering any enthusiasm with additional tough numbers from elsewhere. “The Canadian market continued to be impacted by social and political challenges and recorded lower visitor arrivals and visitor spending in April 2026 compared to the same month last year.”
Canadians represented 34,900 visitors in April, a 4.1% decrease from the 36,381 in April 2025. A total of 28,900 arrived via direct air service and 6,000 came on domestic flights.
Total spending by Canadians in April amounted to $86.5 million, with an average daily spending amount of $227 per person. That’s down from $91 million for total spending but slightly up from $224 average daily spending per person from the same month in 2025.
A total of 65,808 visitors arrived in April from other international markets, which is a major 21.6% decline from 83,905 visitors during the same month in 2025.
Air capacity to Hawai‘i in April stood at 5,201 transpacific flights with 1,146,516 seats, an 8.7% increase from 4,786 flights and 3.9% jump from 1,103,399 seats compared with April 2025.
Find more information at the Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism website.
