Hawaiʻi’s visitor economy is off to a steady start in 2026, with total arrivals holding in a tight range even as the composition of travelers continues to change.
From January through April, Hawaiʻi welcomed about 3.36 million visitors, according to DBEDT data. Monthly totals ranged from roughly 787,000 to 888,000 arrivals.
The big driver: the U.S. mainland
Mainland travelers continue to dominate Hawaiʻi tourism.
January: 601,842 visitors
February: 588,010
March: 695,872
April: 645,115
U.S. visitors now account for roughly three-quarters of total arrivals, reinforcing a post-pandemic shift toward stronger dependence on domestic travel demand.
International travel remains uneven
Outside the mainland, recovery continues at different speeds.
Japan remains the largest international market but is still below historical levels.
January: 74,118
February: 68,432
March: 67,014
April: 55,512
Canada has softened heading into spring, while other international markets such as Korea, Australia, and Europe remain grouped in DBEDT reporting and have yet to fully return to pre-2019 volumes.
The takeaway
Hawaiʻi’s tourism story in 2026 is less about rapid growth and more about stability and mix shift.
Arrivals are steady. Spending remains strong. But the visitor base is increasingly concentrated in the U.S. mainland.
That shift has implications for airline capacity, hotel pricing, and the overall resilience of Hawaiʻi’s tourism economy if global travel patterns shift again.