Visitor numbers to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park are virtually back to pre-eruption levels just weeks after the park was partially reopened.
Park spokeswoman Jessica Ferracane said last month’s visitation was ‘about on par’ with September 2017.
The park only reopened on September 22 after being closed since May due to the Kilauea volcano eruption.
That led to widespread travel cancelations across the Big Island and heavily impacting tourism-dependent communities close to the park.
Not all of the park is open, with the Ka’u Desert Trail and the Kilauea Iki Trail still off-limits due to damage caused by lava flows.
Ferracane says the visitor numbers have been consistent so far with a spike during cruise ship visits.
"We’re expecting big numbers when the winter season picks back up," she added.
Across the island, general tourism seems to have picked up in recent weeks, said Ross Birch, president of the Island of Hawaii Visitors Bureau.
September tourism data has not been published yet.
"If we can meet the numbers from September of last year, which was about 120,000, then I would consider that a huge success," he said.
