Kauai Tourism Statistics

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Updated

Kauai, Hawaii’s “Garden Isle,” welcomed about 1.41 million visitors in 2025, and they spent $2.94 billion on the island. On an average day, about 28,600 visitors were on Kauai.1

How many people visit Kauai each year?

In 2025, about 1.41 million international and domestic tourists visited Kauai.1 From January to September 2026, arrivals reached 1.05 million, 2.2% fewer than in the same months of 2025.2

  • Kauai attracted 158,769 international visitors in 2019.3 When the pandemic hit in 2020, that number fell 78% to 34,420.
  • International arrivals fell further in 2021, to just 5,990.4 They climbed back to 60,333 in 2022.5
  • In 2023, Kauai had 84,945 international visitors, still 46% below the pre-pandemic 2019 level.6
  • Kauai recorded 77,514 international visitors in 2024, 9% fewer than 2023 and 51% below the 2019 level.6
  • International arrivals rose 18.3% to 91,669 in 2025, still 42% below the 2019 level.7
Annual International Visitor Arrivals in Kauai (2015–2025)Visitors arriving on international flights who stayed on Kauai50K100K150K200K179,9625,99020152016201720182019202020212022202320242025YearVisitors on international flights
Annual International Visitor Arrivals in Kauai (2015–2025)

How many tourists have visited Kauai in 2026 so far?

  • Kauai welcomed 1.05 million visitors in the first nine months of 2026, 2.2% fewer than in the same period of 2025.2
  • July was the busiest month so far, with 139,974 visitors.2

How did Hurricane Lowell affect Kauai tourism?

  • September 2026 arrivals fell 35.0% year over year to 60,224 after Hurricane Lowell passed close to the islands on September 6–8, causing extensive damage on Kauai.8
  • Visitors spent $105.4 million on Kauai in September 2026, 44% less than the $189.1 million spent in September 2025.2

Note: These are preliminary figures from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) and may change in later releases.

Preliminary figures from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT).2 Figures for October to December 2026 have not been released yet.
Kauai Visitor Arrivals in 2026 (January–September)
MonthVisitors
January121,293
February113,016
March126,794
April120,865
May122,261
June128,883
July139,974
August115,997
September60,224

How many tourists are on Kauai each day?

On an average day in 2025, 28,577 visitors were on Kauai, 0.8% more than in 2024 (28,353).1

  • July 2025 was the busiest month, with about 33,800 visitors on the island on an average day. September was the quietest, with about 21,000.9
  • In the first nine months of 2026, the daily average fell to about 23,900, 18% below the same months of 2025, mainly because stays were shorter: 6.2 days on average, down from 7.4.2

How many people visited Kauai in 2024?

Kauai welcomed 1.39 million visitors in 2024: 1.32 million domestic travelers and 77,514 international visitors.6

How much do tourists spend in Kauai every year?

Domestic and international visitors spent $2.94 billion on Kauai in 2025, 2.4% more than in 2024.1

  • In 2019, visitors spent $1.91 billion on Kauai.3
  • Figures for 2020 were not published.3
  • Tourist spending rose from $1.40 billion in 2021 to $2.23 billion in 20225, a 58% increase.
  • Spending climbed to $2.79 billion in 20236, about 46% more than in 2019.
  • It reached $2.87 billion in 2024, 3% more than in 2023 and 51% above the pre-pandemic 2019 level.6
Annual Visitor Spending in Kauai (2019–2025)No 2020 figure was published$1B$2B$3B$1.40B$2.94B2019202020212022202320242025YearTotal visitor spending (USD)
Annual Visitor Spending in Kauai (2019–2025)

How much have tourists spent in Kauai in 2026 so far?

  • In the first nine months of 2026, visitors spent $2.08 billion, 5.7% less than in the same period of 2025.2

How much does it cost to visit Kauai?

  • Visitors to Kauai spent an average of $282 per person per day in 2025, or about $2,091 per trip, covering lodging, dining, transportation, shopping and activities.7

How important is tourism to Kauai's economy?

  • Tourism generated about $1.85 billion of Kauai County's GDP in 2024, directly and indirectly. That is 33.3% of the county's economy, about double the statewide share of 16.1%.10
  • In 2022, the latest year with county job estimates, tourism supported about 14,900 jobs on Kauai, 32.1% of all jobs in the county.11

Which countries visit Kauai the most?

In 2025, most of Kauai's visitors came from the USA, followed by Canada and Europe, with Japan and Korea well behind.7

  • The USA was the top source of visitors to Kauai, accounting for 88% of all visitors with 1.24 million visits in 2025.7 Canada contributed 43,041 visitors, down 6.6% from 2024.
  • Europe accounted for 2.0% of visitors with 28,086 visits, up 5.7%.7
  • Japan sent 7,157 visitors and Korea 3,752.7 DBEDT's Oceania (13,701) and Other Asia (7,528, which includes Korea) markets both sent more visitors than Japan.
  • In 2025, 19.5% of US East visitors to Hawaii included Kauai in their trip, compared with 15.4% of US West visitors. Arrivals from the US East rose 9.1%, while those from the US West fell 3.5%.1
Visitors to Kauai from Selected Markets (2025)Air visitors to Kauai; the USA figure combines the US West and US East marketsUSA1.24MCanada43,041Europe28,086Japan7,157Korea3,752Air visitors to Kauai
Visitors to Kauai from Selected Markets (2025)

How does Kauai compare with the other Hawaiian islands?

Kauai was the fourth most visited Hawaiian island in 2025, with 1.41 million visitors, after Oahu (5.67 million), Maui (2.53 million) and Hawaii Island (1.72 million). Kauai and Maui were the only islands to receive more visitors than in 2024.1

  • Visitors to Kauai spent $282 per person per day, more than on Hawaii Island ($246) and Oahu ($238) but less than on Maui ($305).1
  • Kauai had the highest share of repeat visitors of any island: 73.2% had been to Hawaii before (Maui 72.7%, Hawaii Island 70.5%, Oahu 64.6%).1
  • About half of Kauai visitors (51.5%) stayed in hotels, while 19.2% used rental homes, 17.1% condominiums and 13.7% timeshares.1

How long do visitors stay in Kauai?

  • In 2025, visitors stayed on Kauai for an average of 7.41 days.7
  • That was shorter than the 8.73-day average for all visitors to Hawaii, which counts time spent on every island.1
  • Stays have shortened since 2021, when visitors spent an average of 8.61 days on Kauai.4

When is the best time to visit Kauai?

  • The quietest times to visit Kauai are September to November and February. In 2025, September (92,626 visitors), October (104,168), February (105,769) and November (106,459) had the fewest arrivals.9
  • July, June and March were the busiest months, so expect the biggest crowds in summer and over spring break.9

What are the busiest months in Kauai?

  • July 2025 was the busiest month, with 143,321 visitors at the height of the summer travel season.7
  • June came next with 134,030 visitors.7
  • Spring break lifted March to 127,773 visitors.7
  • August attracted 124,312 visitors.7
  • December brought 123,661 visitors.7
  • The quietest month was September, with 92,626 visitors.7
Monthly Visitor Arrivals in Kauai (2025)Air visitors to Kauai by month50K100K150K143,32192,626JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecMonthAir visitors to Kauai
Monthly Visitor Arrivals in Kauai (2025)

Car Rental in Kauai and Hawaii

How many domestic and international tourists visit Kauai?

In 2025, 1.32 million visitors, or 93% of Kauai's total, arrived on domestic flights from the US mainland, while 91,669 arrived on international flights.7 "Domestic" describes the flight, not where visitors live: most visitors from Europe and some from Canada also fly in via the mainland, which is why this figure is higher than the 1.24 million visitors who came from the USA.1

  • In 2019, Kauai welcomed 1.37 million visitors in total.3
  • When the pandemic struck in 2020, visitor numbers dropped to 330,263.3
  • Arrivals partly recovered to 813,647 in 20214, despite a new COVID variant. Domestic arrivals rebounded to 807,658, while international arrivals stayed low at just 5,990.
  • By 2022, arrivals were back to 1.35 million.5 In 2023, Kauai received 1.42 million visitors, about 4% more than in 2019.6
  • Arrivals slipped to 1.39 million in 2024 before rising to 1.41 million in 2025.7
International and Domestic Visitors in Kauai (2015–2025)Air visitors to Kauai arriving on domestic and international flightsVisitors on domestic flightsVisitors on international flights500K1M1.5M20152016201720182019202020212022202320242025Year
International and Domestic Visitors in Kauai (2015–2025)

Kauai tourism statistics by year

Kauai Visitors, Spending and Length of Stay by Year (2015–2025)
YearTotal air visitorsTotal visitor spending (US$ millions)Average length of stay (days)
2,0151,173,7521,5487.63
2,0161,187,2691,671.47.66
2,0171,285,4431,8177.5
2,0181,389,3001,994.17.48
2,0191,370,0291,9097.38
2,020330,2638.9
2,021813,6471,404.78.61
2,0221,345,5642,225.37.76
2,0231,418,6882,792.87.46
2,0241,393,1012,873.37.45
2,0251,407,6322,943.27.41

Source · 2025 Annual Visitor Research Report (Hawaii DBEDT) · retrieved 2026-11-13 from files.hawaii.gov 1

More Statistics

  • TripAdvisor ranked Kauai 6th in the world and 1st in the US in its 2024 Travelers’ Choice “Best of the Best” awards for nature destinations.12
  • After the devastating 2023 wildfires on Maui, many travelers turned to Kauai instead, and the island's visitor numbers rose about 5% in 2023 compared with 2022.13

Read more about how the wildfires affected Maui tourism.

References

  1. 2025 Annual Visitor Research Report (Hawaii DBEDT) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c d e f g h i j k l
  2. September 2026 Visitor Statistics, with 2026 year-to-date totals (Hawaii DBEDT, preliminary) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c d e f g
  3. 2020 Annual Visitor Research Report (Hawaii DBEDT) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c d e
  4. 2021 Annual Visitor Research Report (Hawaii DBEDT) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c
  5. 2022 Annual Visitor Research Report (Hawaii DBEDT) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c
  6. 2024 Annual Visitor Research Report (Hawaii DBEDT) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c d e f
  7. 2025 Annual Visitor Research Report — data tables (Hawaii DBEDT) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c d e f g h i j k l m n o
  8. Visitor Spending and Arrivals Declined in September 2026 (Hawaii DBEDT press release) · files.hawaii.gov ↑
  9. Kaua‘i Monthly Visitor Statistics, 2025 and 2026 (Hawaii DBEDT, preliminary 2026) · files.hawaii.gov ↑ b c
  10. Tourism and Hawaii Economy (Hawaii DBEDT, March 2026) · files.hawaii.gov ↑
  11. Tourism and Hawaii Economy (Hawaii DBEDT, July 2024) · files.hawaii.gov ↑
  12. Kauai Only U.S. Destination In This Recent TripAdvisor Award (Beat of Hawaii, 9 January 2024) · beatofhawaii.com ↑
  13. 2023 Annual Visitor Research Report (Hawaii DBEDT) · files.hawaii.gov ↑
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