Despite being some of most isolated islands in the world, the Hawaiian islands have capitalized on travel from one country in Asia - Japan.
Despite being some of most isolated islands in the world, the Hawaiian islands – the 50thstate of the United States – has attracted visitors from around the world. The island paradise is known for its beaches and natural attractions, and where the arts of hula and surfing first started. Because of its popularity, the island's tourism industry prospered for decades welcoming millions of visitors each year with “Aloha.” As a result, tourism has been an important part of Hawaii's economy. The state of Hawaii has capitalized on the industry especially from one particular market in Asia – Japan.
A History of Aloha for Japanese Visitors
The Hawaiian Islands and Japan are separated by more than 6000 kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. Yet each day upwards of 25,000 Japanese travelers arrive in Hawaii – mostly at the Honolulu International Airport – after a 7-8 hour flight over the ocean. Each has varying reasons to make the journey to Hawaii. Some are taking their families along for a once-in-a-lifetime vacation in paradise while others to enjoy the warm climate and shop. Then there are newly-weds going for their honeymoon, or to actually have their wedding ceremony.
Regardless of the reason, Hawaii's economy has capitalized on tourism from Japan for decades. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hawaii welcomed around 1.58 million travelers from Japan. Despite taking a hit and continuing to lag compared to the pre-pandemic numbers (~590,000 in 2023), Hawaii is still a top destination for Japanese outbound travelers and the majority of outbound travel from the country to the United States – making up about 40% of US-bound travelers from Japan. The market is so significant that both Hawaii and Japanese tourism/travel statistics count Hawaii separately as its own destination. Even when counted separately from the United States, Hawaii is still is the 6th top destination for Japanese outbound travelers.
The popularity of Hawaii among Japanese travelers has come a long way from the events of World War II, though the connection between the Hawaiian islands and Japan started in the late 19th and early 20thcenturies. During the late 1800s and early 1900s Hawaii saw the migration of Japanese workers who would end up working in plantations across the islands. Many would of whom would remain in the islands. As a result, it is common to find Hawaiians with Japanese ancestry and names, with relatives who live in Japan. According to the US Census (2016-2020), those with Japanese descent comprised of 22% of the population of Hawaii. With many Hawaiian-Japanese, there is a bit of familiarity for Japanese visitors.
Japanese tourism to Hawaii would not begin until after World War II. After outbound travel restrictions from Japan were lifted in 1960, Japan would undergo an economic boom until the 1980s which led to a stronger exchange rate between the Japanese yen and the US dollar. Combined with the warm climate, shopping, and cultural ties, Hawaii became seen as an island paradise close to Japan. Airlines and businesses from both sides of the Pacific served what would be a tourism cash cow for decades.
A Unique Aviation Market
For the majority of Japanese visitors to Hawaii, the Aloha experience starts upon arrival at the Honolulu International Airport where five airlines operates a total of around 90 weekly flights from four cities/five airports in Japan – Tokyo (Narita/Haneda), Osaka (Kansai), Nagoya (Chubu), and Fukuoka. The airlines operating between Japan and Hawaii include All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan Airlines (JAL), Delta, Hawaiian, and JAL's long-haul budget arm ZIPAIR Tokyo.
JAL and Hawaiian leads with routes offered with four each followed by ANA (2), and Delta and ZIPAIR Tokyo with one each. JAL operates flights from both Tokyo area hubs – Haneda and Narita – along with Osaka and Nagoya, and Hawaiian operates flights to the two Tokyo hubs, Osaka, and Fukuoka. While ANA only operates out of Tokyo, the airline uses its Airbus A380s with interiors designed and marketed for the Hawaii-bound services. The other Honolulu-bound flights from Tokyo are operated by Delta (Haneda) and ZIPAIR Tokyo (Narita). The top airline in terms of weekly flights is JAL with around 30 followed by Hawaiian (29), ANA's 21 weekly flights from Tokyo, Delta (7), and ZIPAIR Tokyo (3).
Because of its location, popularity around the world, and Honolulu being historically a convenient stopover point for aircraft traveling between North America and Asia, other airlines have served – or tried to capitalize – on the route between Japan and Hawaii. Some of the former players in the market include United Airlines. Other airlines have used fifth-freedom flight rights to serve the market including Southeast Asian budget airlines AirAsia with its long-haul arm AirAsia X and Singapore Airlines' Scoot from Osaka. South Korea's Korean Air also had its own fifth-freedom flights between Honolulu and Tokyo. At present, these flights have been suspended.
Decline of the Aloha Allure
While the world has opened up following the pandemic, Japanese outbound travel has been slow to recover. Compared to the 20 million Japanese outbound travelers in 2019, less than half – around 9.6 million – left the country in 2023. The recovery is still ongoing and on pace to surpass 2023 in 2024 (9.5 million as of October). As a result, it has affected Hawaii's visitor arrival numbers. Last year, Hawaii welcomed 572,000 visitors from Japan – significantly down from 1.58 million in 2019. Among the reasons cited for the decline in outbound travel to not just Hawaii has been the weaker yen, and with an aging population there is less appeal for outbound travel.
Meanwhile, based on Hawaii's historical data of tourist arrivals others can argue that the decline started long before the pandemic. After peaking at around 2.22 million in 1997, Japanese visitor arrivals to Hawaii has seen a general trend of decline since 2000 before stabilizing to around 1.5 million in the late 2010s.
Looking beyond the reasons, the decline has been noticed by industry stakeholders such as Hawaiian Airlines. Now part of the Alaska Air Group, the weak post-pandemic leisure travel demand from Japan was cited as the reason it will shift one of its aircraft used on flights between Honolulu and Tokyo-Narita for a new route between Seattle and Narita. While adding two extra weekly flights to Haneda, the move will reduce the total number of flights operated by Hawaiian between Honolulu and Tokyo from 18 to 14.
To boost arrivals from Japan, Hawaii's state government has taken measures to step up its marketing in Japan with the hopes of a return to the pre-pandemic numbers. Working with Japanese tourism stakeholders, efforts are being made to promote Hawaii as a destination for events and tour operators. However, some have doubted that the efforts to promote Hawaii in Japan would not be fruitful given the current economic situation in Japan including the weaker yen.
Slow Recovery or Fading Market
The current situation of tourism from Japan to Hawaii could be described as slow to recover, a fading market, or one that simply is long past its prime. Despite the decline the Japan-Hawaii is still one of the busiest when it comes to travel between Japan and the US. Airlines and stakeholders continue to cater their marketing to Japanese interested in traveling abroad. While not as vibrant as the past, Hawaii's tourism stakeholders are still willing to continue to invest in attracting and welcoming Japanese visitors with Aloha well into the future.
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