Tourism industry hopes to cash in this spring break, but visitor forecast remains unclear

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - This spring break, many in the tourism industry are hoping to cash in.

“We’re just hoping there is a lot of last-minute bookings and other stuff,” said Allen Farinas, with Shore Fyre Restaurant, who added he isn’t sure whether the break will translate into a big uptick in visitor spending.

“There’s some things with the economy going on and reasons why people might not travel,” he said.

He added, “Things don’t look like a huge influx of visitors.”

The Hawaii Tourism Authority said visitor numbers for March are trending back to normal.

Last year, the islands saw nearly 800,000 visitors during spring break. That was up 40% from 2021.

Before the pandemic, Hawaii saw nearly 1 million visitors in the same month.

Carl Bonham, the executive director for the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, said there’s reason to be hopeful. “When we started 2022, things were weaker. Actually we had Omicron,” he said.

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