State tourism forecast predicts it will take 6 years for arrivals to recover

As Hawaii's economy slowly begins reopening in phases, government officials are mapping out just how long it will take to return Island tourism, and the state economy, to what it was before the Covid-19 pandemic. A recent report by the state Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism predicts that it will take two years for non-tourism businesses to recover to 2019 levels, and six years for visitor arrivals to recover, based on the recovery pace after the Great Recession in 2009. DBEDT's…