Introduction
This factsheet reviews and presents Honolulu as a host destination and further elaborates on the
tourism activities this host destination has. Honolulu is an island paradise and the capital city of
Hawaii one of the largest cities in the US. The strategic position and attractive features of
Honolulu makes this place the most visited city in the US. Honolulu is located at the edge of the
Pacific Ocean and on the island of Oahu which makes this city a vibrant Hawaii capital city with
various forms of activities from both locals and visitors. It is elevated at 18 meters above the sea
level, 21.31 latitude and -157.86 longitudes with a population of 371, 657 and it is operating at
HTD time-zone (Worldatlas 2016)
The Total Number of Visitors (International and Domestic) and Analysis of International
Visitor Growth and Source Markets.
The number of arrivals and spending guests has significantly increased year after another which
has been positive growth in Honolulu destination wherein 2018 there was a total number of
9,954,548 visitors from 9,404,346 visitors in 2017 which was 5.9% increase. The visitors travel
either by air means or the use of cruise ships through the Pacific Ocean (Hawaii Tourism
Authority 2018)
Records of international and domestic visitors in Honolulu destination
Visitors that arrived by air means was totaling to 9,827,132 visitors which was an increase of 5.9
percent by 2018 and most of the visitors came from Canada, East, and West U.S and also from
Japan. On the other hand, visitors who traveled by water means using cruise ships increased
slightly by 0.5% (127,415) compared with the total number in 2017. From U.S East visitors
comprised of travelers from East North Central and from South Antarctic (Guide Ushawaii 2019)
year 2018year 2017year 2016year 2015
Total visitors annually
Column1
Percentage increase
percentage increase in number of
guest
Visitors at Waikiki Beach in Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oahu
The characteristics of accommodation options available at Honolulu destination
Honolulu owns beautiful sceneries such as beaches and hotels with salient features that attract
guests from every corner of the world. Some of these hotels include the Waikiki beach hotels
(Hilton, Sheraton, OHANA Waikiki Malia, Marriot resort & spa, Aston among others in Waikiki
beach) Ala Moana hotel, Oahu Beach Hotels and airport Honolulu Hotel among other beautiful
hotels. Visitors have the option of either staying on the beach or in the mainland and prices are
relatively cheap and suit one's pocket ranging from the place of stay. The accommodation ranges
from apartments, resorts spas, big hotels, and small hotels. The accommodation set up view is in
the shimmering ocean, city skyline or in the mountain ranges. This is due to the landscape the
land of Honolulu possesses. Most hotels are centrally located and suited near the most attractive
site. It will only take around a 10 minutes’ drive from the Honolulu CBD, visitors can have a
stroll from location of they are spending into the Magic Island, Waikiki Beach in 15 minutes, or
walk down the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor in the evening hours watching the sunset setting over the
Pacific Ocean.
Photo of Oahu beach hotels in Honolulu (hotel-nearly located to the beach)
The economic impact on GDP
from tourism at Honolulu
destination
Tourism activities in Honolulu
have impacted heavily toward
boosting the economy of Hawaii
in a significant manner. Daily
visitor spending on accommodation, transport, entertainment, shopping, food, and drinks
averaged $176 per visitor which was a 1.2% increase in the year 2018. There was moderate
growth of 7.9% for the condominium, 7.4% for the hotels, 2.6% timeshare stays, and strong
growth of 22.5% was noted in the year 2018 for the stays- in rental home as well as an increase
of 17.6% for bed &breakfast. Tourism has created job opportunities where more than 217,000
jobs in Honolulu city were supported by tourism activities in the year 2018 which is a 6.8%
increase from the year 2017. The daily spending during the day and night tourism activities also
impact the improvement of infrastructure; (roads and building construction) which has improved
the lifestyle of the locals in Honolulu as well as the whole of Hawaii. Visitors in Honolulu Island
and beaches spent to $17.82 billion in the year 2018 which was an increase of 6.8% in
comparison to the year 2017 (Hawaii Tourism Authority 2019). Moreover, tourism activities in
Honolulu generated up to $2.08 billion for the state- tax revenue in the year 2018 (Jay 2018)
The main attraction types at Honolulu destination
Having seen Honolulu to be the best destination to be some of the features ant attraction sites
that make Honolulu are listed below.
Honolulu has beautiful beaches that give room for sunset view at the Pacific Ocean (eg.
Ala Moana beach, Queen’s beach, Kuhio beach) (Ala Moana Hotel 2018)
The Ala Moana Beach Park with a magical island beside
Luxurious hotel, apartment, and rentals with affordable prices (eg. Hilton, Ala Moana,
Waikiki beach hotels among others) (Ala Moana Hotel 2018)
Resorts and spas, restaurants that offer services such as gym, food, and drinks among
other form of entertainment (eg. La Ronde restaurant)
Big shopping malls holding various beautiful things from Hawaii cultural activities (e.g
Waikiki malls, windward malls, Aloha tower marketplace, Kahla mall, ward centers)
Mountains and forests, ocean and parks and Honolulu Zoo.
Convention center, theatres, libraries, stadiums, gardens, living Art marine center, Lyon
arboretum (e.g Waikiki theatre, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Diamond Head theatre, Aloha
Stadium, Hawaii conventional centers, Hawaii state library, foster botanical garden (Lura
2019).
References
Ala Moana Hotel 2018, Honolulu Hotel Rooms with Ocean, Mountain & City Views, Ala
Moana Hotel, viewed by 2018, < https://www.alamoanahotelhonolulu.com/rooms-suites/>
Guide Ushawaii 2019, HAWAII TOURISM STATISTICS, Guide of Ushawaii, viewed
by 17-01-2019, <https://www.hawaii-guide.com/hawaii-tourism-statistics>
Hawaii Tourism Authority 2018, Annual Visitor Research Report, Hawaii Tourism
Authority, viewed by 2018, <http://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/visitor/visitor-research/2018-annual-
visitor.pdf>
Hawaii Tourism Authority 2019, Hawaii Tourism Reveals Impressive Visitor Numbers
for 2018, Hawaii Tourism Authority, viewed by 1-02-2019,
<https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/hawaii-tourism-reveals-impressive-visitor-
numbers-for-2018.html>
Jay. J 2018, The 9.3 million people who visited Hawaii last year paid more for their
hotels. So will you, Los Angela’s Times, viewed 8-02-2018, <
https://www.latimes.com/travel/hawaii/la-tr-hawaii-hotel-prices-incease-as-does-tourism-
20180207-story.html>
Lura. S 2019, 14 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Honolulu, Planetware, viewed by
2019, <https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/honolulu-us-hi-oh.htm>
TripAdvisor 2019, Things to Do in Honolulu, TripAdvisor, viewed by 2019, <
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g60982-Activities-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii.html>
Worldatlas 2016, Where Is Honolulu, HI?, worldatlas, viewed 2016,
<https://www.worldatlas.com/na/us/hi/where-is-honolulu.html>