By April 2020, with the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns shuttering tourism, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses, Hawaii's unemployment ballooned to 22%, one of the highest in the country at that time. In December 2019, the tourism-centric state was the envy of the U.S., boasting a record 2.7% unemployment rate, one of the lowest in the country. Tourism accounted for a little more than 20% of the state's economy, supporting more than 216,000 jobs in 2019, the Hawaiian Tourism Authority reported. "However, most people are now embracing the 'living and traveling with Covid' approach, as opposed to waiting and waiting for all risk to subside."Īmong the states hit hardest by the pandemic, Hawaii felt the biggest brunt of it. "In a way, we've entered the pandemic 2.0 phase where governments and citizens are acknowledging that Covid will never be completely eliminated, and that there will always be some risk of exposure," said Hentschel. to Europe to the Asia-Pacific, and countries will continue to ease travel restrictions as we turn the corner on the worst part of the pandemic," said Tim Hentschel, co-founder and CEO of HotelPlanner, a travel technology company. "Vaccination rates are high enough, and infection rates are now low enough, that governments are starting to lift restrictions, from the U.S. in November would be a big part of Hawaii and other states' economic comeback. Travel experts said that vaccinated foreign visitors allowed to travel to the U.S. Visitor spending fell 71% from $17.8 billion in 2019 to $5.1 billion in 2020.īut after a year of shutdowns, lockdowns, and other restrictions, and with vaccines now widely available, the federal and local governments are opening up the economy, and people are adjusting their lives around the pandemic. of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. That's good news for travel advisors and agents like Fisher and the rest of the island's economy, which was wrecked by the economic fallout and travel restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic.ĬOVID-19 and tourism restrictions that came from it caused tourism in Hawaii to drop nearly 80% from 10.4 million visitors in 2019, pre-COVID, to 2.7 million visitors in 2020, according to the Hawaii Dept. This gives us the ability to move forward in our economic recovery and safely welcome back fully vaccinated domestic travelers. ![]() Our hospitals are doing better and seeing fewer patients. I’m encouraged by the continuing trend of lower case counts of COVID in our islands. This gives us the ability to move forward in our economic recovery and safely welcome back fully vaccinated domestic travelers." "Our hospitals are doing better and seeing fewer patients. "I'm encouraged by the continuing trend of lower case counts of COVID in our islands," Ige tweeted. However, this month fully vaccinated residents and domestic visitors were able to travel freely to and between the islands. After a surge of cases in August, Ige urged residents to delay non-essential travel and people not to visit Hawaii.Ĭurrently, under the state's safe travel program, a visitor must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their flight to the island or must quarantine for ten days upon arriving. With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the islands decreasing and nearly 80% of residents with at least one dose of the vaccine, Ige is beginning to lift one of many COVID-travel restrictions he imposed throughout the pandemic. "I'm expecting a big rebound."Īfter a challenging year, many of Hawaii's tourism professionals welcomed the news of lifting travel restrictions and possibly seeing an uptick of visitors in the near and long-term future. "I think what we're going to see is a robust holiday season, and if people are planning to come to Hawaii, they better book soon," said Fisher. would be a big part of Hawaii and other states' economic comebackĪfter Ige's announcement, a few days later, the White House announced that fully vaccinated foreign visitors would be welcomed to the U.S. Travel experts said that vaccinated foreign visitors allowed to travel to the U.S. ![]() 8, the White House began allowing fully vaccinated foreign tourists to visit the U.S. Governor Ige sent a series of tweets saying that the Aloha state would welcome vaccinated domestic and non-essential travelers. ![]()
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