Updated: Between high costs, new taxes and fees, Hawaii desperately wants to get of the tourism business: Hawaii to add 11% ‘green fee’ climate tax on cruise passengers starting Jan. 1. 17% of Hawaii’s GDP is based on tourism, while 40% of Maui’s GDP is based on tourism- and they are doing everything they can to make those a smaller percent. And those are just direct expenditures (hotels, restaurants, transportation) and not the downstream effects of that money being recycled through the local economy. Also, if Hawaii gets away with a “climate tax” on tourists, watch for other states to start doing the same thing – like hotel taxes, its known as “taxation with representation” – taxing people who have not democratic say in the tax scheme since they can’t vote in those jurisdictions.
An estimated 2.5% of Americans visit Hawaii each year. Up to 90% of visitors are from the U.S. and the others from international sources.
- Travel is heavily concentrated among higher‑income households and West Coast residents (about half of all visitors are from west coast states).
- Up to 85% of visitors have household incomes >$100,000/year, and 35% have incomes greater than $150k/year.
- As of summer 2025, the average hotel price is now around $400 per night. And restaurants can cost $50 – $100 per person.
- Hawaii is a numerically niche destination compared to many other areas.
No one knows how many Americans, in total, have ever visited Hawaii – but some data analysis suggests it might be up to 15-20% have visited Hawaii at least once. Around 9-11 million people per year visit Hawaii (but there may be overlap with repeat visitors) – and since Covid, the Maui fires, and now high costs, visits to Hawaii do appear to be in decline. Hawaii, like several travel destinations, has deliberately chosen to cater to the wealthy and no longer wishes to have middle class, student backpackers and others who do not spend lots of money (really).
For comparison, 5-7% have visited Alaska, almost 50% have visited Florida and California.
This post was inspired by this: American nation travel shift: Why Costa Rica is replacing Hawaii for some US tourists in 2025 – and some fact checking.
Costa Rica sees about 1.5 million visitors from the U.S. each year – compare that to the 11 million headed to Hawaii. Americans are the largest group of visitors to Costa Rica and the number is growing by about 10% per year. Travel data analysis suggests 10-15% of Americans have visited Costa Rica at least once (like Hawaii, there are many repeat visitors that can only be estimated.)