Hawaii Travel & Rising Energy Costs

Energy Costs & Inflation very likely to impact Hawaii travel

Hawaii just turned corner on pandemic 

Last Updated: June 21, 2022

On March 26, 2022, Hawaii reopened to all domestic travelers without any restrictions. But another issue continues to loom...

The state of Hawaii has now moved from one significant disruption to tourism to another. The crisis in Ukraine & Europe will likely continue to cause additional disruption to Hawaii, just as the state tries to begin a stable recovery from the effects of COVID-19, as energy prices increasingly soar, now hitting record levels.

In mid-June 2022, national US gas prices reached an average of $5.00/gal. Gas prices could hit $6/gal or more on the mainland, and provided Hawaii's gas prices are already typically the second-highest in the nation, after California, the potential for $6+/gal or even 7+/gal gasoline in Hawaii isn't too far fetched. On the first day of summer 2022, khon2 news reported Hawaii reached a new record price for gas.

In fact, analysts cited by NPR project that if oil prices hit $200/barrel, the retail price of gas would average $5.84 in the U.S. The last time gas prices were north of $4/gal was in 2012, and research performed in 2014 by the St. Louis Federal Reserve estimated that, at that time, Americans spent roughly 4% of their income on gas - one of the highest levels seen in 30 years. In late May 2022, gas prices reached over $4.00/gallon in every state. A month later, in early June 2022, as noted above, prices nationally averaged over $5.00/gallon.

Price increases will continue to impact flight costs, the costs associated with rental vehicles (Turo or standard rental agency), and potentially impact accommodation rates due to increases in local electricity costs. 

Despite ongoing attempts to pivot to greener and more sustainable energy sources, at this time, Hawaii still generates a significant amount of its electricity from petroleum fuels. This will affect industries and small businesses of all types in Hawaii.