How much does Waikīkī contribute to Hawai‘i's economy? A report published last month by the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization, or UHERO, takes a look.
Aptly titled "The Economic Contribution of Waikīkī," the report — an update to a brief of the same name published in 2003 by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism — notes that through tourism-related activity, Waikīkī accounted for an estimated $6.9 billion, or 6%, of Hawai‘i's gross state product in 2024. Its attraction of visitors also can be credited with 62,000 civilian jobs statewide, 7% of the total, and $799 million in state tax revenues, also 7% of the total.
The "outsized contribution" to the state's economy contrasts with Waikīkī's resident population, which numbered about 20,470 in 2020 and accounted for 2% of O‘ahu residents, according to the report.
"The trend of visitors diversifying their allocation of visitor days from O‘ahu to Neighbor Islands continues, but Waikīkī remains the flagship with 38% of all visitor units (inventory and occupancy)," the report reads. "Some $8.7 billion, or 36%, of all visitor expenditures in the state were generated by Waikīkī-based visitor activity during 2024."
Using the same metrics as the 2003 brief, the report authors say tourism contributed $18.9 billion of the $115 billion total gross state product in 2024.
"That is, about 16% of Hawai‘i's GSP for the year was generated by visitor activity and is the largest single contributor to Hawai‘i's annual GSP," the report says.
In 2002, for comparison, tourism in Waikīkī — which had a population of 19,720 in 2000, or about 2.3% of O‘ahu residents — accounted for 8% of the gross state product, or $3.6 billion; 10% of all civilian jobs statewide; and 12% of all state tax revenues, the report says, adding that more than $5 billion, or 46%, of all visitor expenditures in the Islands were generated by Waikīkī-based visitor activity that year.
"At that time, tourism’s contribution of $8 billion compared with a total gross state product of $46 billion, meaning 17% of that year’s GSP was generated by visitor activity," the report reads.
Marcus Peng, a postdoctoral researcher at UHERO and one of the report's authors, told Aloha State Daily that he's done a few different reports about Waikīkī and the economic value of beaches over the years but it's been "quite a long time" since this report was updated.
A report like this "highlights what's going on in Waikīkī and it helps inform management in a lot of different ways," he says.
According to Peng, UHERO worked on the update, which involved pulling a lot of state and federal data together along with other resources, for a few months.
The idea, he says, is that people will get "some small bit of information here and there that comes out of whatever other report, but by pulling it together and integrating it in this way, it's much more informative and I think the results stand out a lot more."
There were both surprising and not surprising findings in the updated data.
Not surprising, Peng says, is that in the past 20 years, with more direct Neighbor Island flights, "the trend where you see the higher rates for hotels ... on Neighbor Islands has continued."
However, Peng says that the increase of hotel rates in Waikīkī has tapered off in recent years, after Covid-related shutdowns.
"If you deflate these current-year dollars to be the same as when they were back in 2003, when the original brief was from ... the rates in Waikīkī [have] actually gone down very, very slightly."
According to the report, the average daily hotel room rate in Waikīkī was below the state average last year, with an average hotel rate of $268 for the year; that's compared to the state average of $367. However, the average Waikīkī rate for 2025 was down $3 per room from 2024, compared to a $2 increase statewide, the report notes.
"Historically, room rates for both Waikīkī and accommodations statewide have generally increased over time, with some interruptions in both Average Daily Rate (ADR) and Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR)," the report reads. "In nominal terms, the increase is dramatic, with statewide ADR and RevPAR more than tripling since 1990. The results are much more modest when adjusted for inflation, with all results (Waikīkī, statewide, ADR and RevPAR) seeing a modest decrease after 2023."
Shockingly, or maybe not, Peng says, too, that "if you think about what rates look like today compared to back then, it really shows much much inflation has gone on over the years."
You can find the full report here.
Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
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