The Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) released the results of its Q4 2022 Visitor Satisfaction and Activity Survey (VSAT), which surveyed visitors from the U.S. West, U.S. East, Canada, Japan, Oceania, Korea, and China who visited Hawai‘i from October to December 2022. The survey found that most visitors from all markets surveyed indicated a high likelihood of returning to the Hawaiian Islands in the next five years. High overall satisfaction with visitors’ most recent stay in Hawai‘i appeared to overshadow the effects of inflation.
More than 60 percent of market visitors indicated they were “very likely” to return to Hawai‘i in the next five years. Hawai‘i’s largest central market area, the U.S. West, saw 80.6 percent of visitors indicating an interest in returning, followed by 77.8 percent of those from Korea, 67.1 percent from Canada, 64.7 percent from the U.S. East, and 61.6 percent from Oceania. Those from the U.S. West and U.S. East who traveled in smaller parties were more likely to return, as were more affluent visitors from the U.S. West.
Repeat visitors from the U.S. West, U.S. East, Oceania, and Canada were more likely to return to the state than first-time visitors. The biggest barrier to returning to Hawai‘i in the next five years for all markets surveyed continued to be the high cost of a vacation in the state.
The full results from the Q4 2022 VSAT are available online at: