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January visitor numbers on the Big Island could presage a robust year for tourism.

According to data released Thursday by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, the more than 158,000 visitors to the Big Island in January was 10% more than those who came to the island in January 2024.

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Perhaps more significantly, that number also was 7% higher than the visitor rates in January 2019, which may indicate the tourism industry is finally moving past the massive slump caused by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

The average daily visitor census on the island was about 45,000 visitors in January, 4% more than in January 2024 and 6% more than January 2019.

Big Island visitors collectively spent $305 million in January, not significantly higher than the $299 million they spent in January 2024. But January expenditures were markedly higher than the $253 million spent in January 2019 — unsurprising after six years of inflation.

By comparison, visitors spent a collective total of $3.2 billion on the Big Island in 2024, nearly a full $1 billion more than was spent in 2019.

Per-person per-day spending was slightly lower this January than last year, with a visitor spending an average of $218 each day, $4 less than January 2024.

These numbers come even as international travel continues to flag beneath prepandemic levels.

There were no Japan-Kona flights in January, whereas 44 flights carrying nearly 10,000 seats arrived in Kona in January 2019. Only about 3,300 of the 54,296 people visiting Hawaii from Japan in January came to the Big Island.

Statewide, 792,177 visitors arrived to the islands in January, 3.8% more than the previous January, but about 3.1% fewer than January 2019.

Total visitor spending was $1.8 billion, up 4.7% from last year and up 17% from January 2019.