A vast majority of recent visitors to Hawaii amid the COVID-19 pandemic (85 percent) rated their experience in the islands as "excellent," and almost all of them (94 percent) indicated that their trip either exceeded or met their expectations, according to a new study conducted by the Hawaii Tourism Authority's Tourism Research Division and Anthology Research.

The Hawaii Safe Travels Program rolled out this past October allowing out-of-state and inter-county travelers to bypass the state's mandatory 10-day quarantine with a valid negative COVID-19 NAAT test result from a trusted testing partner taken and received within 72 hours of departure.

Nearly every visitor surveyed was aware of the state's pre-travel testing protocols before they arrived, and nearly eight out of 10 travelers (79 percent) indicated that the pre-travel testing process went smoothly. A majority (52 percent) of visitors felt their trip met their expectations while more than four out of 10 (42 percent) said that their visit exceeded their expectations.

Among those 21 percent who encountered issues, nearly half (46 percent) felt that the 72-hour window for testing was unreasonable while 37 percent encountered difficulty finding a trusted testing partner and a small portion (15 percent) had problems because their test results didn't arrive in sufficient time.

In addition to the state's pre-travel testing program, nearly all of the surveyed travelers were prepared for the limited availability or capacity of visitor amenities, the study found.

Unsurprisingly, opening businesses, attractions and beaches (39 percent), COVID-19 mandates (27 percent) and quarantine requirements (12 percent) are what visitors would have most liked to change about their trip to enhance the experience.

The online survey was conducted between December 21, 2020, and January 4, 2021. Click here to view the complete Visitor COVID-19 Study.