According to preliminary statistics released Thursday by the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s Tourism Research Division, visitor arrivals were down 98.2% compared to a year ago.

The coronavirus is to blame, says the HTA, having “severely impacted” the local tourism industry.

In a press release the HTA notes that all passengers arriving from out-of-state during June were required to abide by a mandatory 14-day self-quarantine, with some exceptions.

As well, the interisland quarantine was in effect for the first half of June.

A visitor stands on the balcony of the Embassy Suites in Waikiki during COVID-19 pandemic. July 23, 2020
A lone visitor stands on the balcony of the Embassy Suites in Waikiki during the COVID-19 pandemic on July 23. Arrival numbers in June dropped dramatically from the same month a year ago. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2020

Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also continued to enforce a “No Sail Order” on all cruise ships.

In June, a total of 17,068 visitors traveled to Hawaii by air service compared to 951,628 total visitors (by air and cruise ships) during the same period a year ago.

Most of the visitors were from U.S. west (10,149, or down 97.8%) and U.S. east (5,596, or down 97.7%).

Only a few visitors came from Japan (40, or down 100%) and Canada (57, or down 99.7%).

In the first half of 2020, total visitor arrivals decreased 58.5% to 2,156,234 visitors, compared to the same period last year. Total visitor days also dropped 55.2%.

This week marks 18 weeks since the mandatory self-quarantine started. State officials have not decided when or how to reopen the islands to tourism, but the quarantine remains in effect until Sept. 1.

On Thursday 2,380 people arrived in Hawaii. During this same time last year approximately 35,000 passengers arrived including residents and visitors.

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