More tourists travelled to Hawaii earlier this week than the state has seen in a single day since the start of the pandemic. The March 13 surge of 26,400 trans-Pacific and interisland travellers coincided with the busiest flying day (1.36 million) in the US in a year the day before.

Among the data compiled by the Hawaii Tourism Authority, about 18,700 travellers were travelling for vacation or pleasure – Hawaii’s busiest day since coronavirus restrictions caused travel to plummet last year.

The increase coincides with spring break and the US surpassing the 100-million milestone for administering COVID-19 vaccines.

“I feel very good about travelling here. You guys are being very conscious about having people tested or, if they haven’t been tested, having to quarantine,” said Jackie Bornstein, a visitor from Los Angeles who arrived Monday in Honolulu.

She said she is now fully vaccinated and was confident in coming to Hawaii because the state’s testing program and low infection rates.

“I’m here for eight days this time. There’s no doubt I’ll be back,” Bornstein said. “I have a son that lives in Texas. I’m not so comfortable going there where there are no masks.”

Travel to the Hawaii, however, is still well below pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, Hawaii had a record 10.4 million arrivals.

“Our advance bookings are very strong and getting stronger,” Keith Vieira, principal of KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting. “Hotels are seeing continued pickup all the way through summer, which we think could run as high as 50 percent occupancy. We’re hearing from guests that they want to travel and that Hawaii is probably their most trusted destination.”

Still, tourism is expected to struggle in Hawaii for years to come.

“We won’t be back to 2019 levels even by 2022 because we’ve had too many group cancellations,” Vieira said. “We also need to get international visitors back.”