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After a decade of steady growth in visitor arrivals following the Great Recession, Hawaii set a record in 2019 with 10.4 million visitors. The Covid-19 pandemic wiped out those gains and then some, with 2020 registering the fewest number of visitors to the Aloha State since the mid-1970s.
Hawaii started 2020 on pace to set another record, but the first flight cancellations related to the pandemic occurred in February and were soon followed by the CDC s No Sail Order for cruise ships on March 14. Three days later, Gov. David Ige requested those scheduled to visit the Islands in the coming weeks postpone their trips. The shutdown began in earnest on March 26.