The Big Island is not a single economy. It is several, running side by side across 4,030 square miles of the most geologically diverse land in the United States. That diversity is exactly what makes it compelling for buyers.

Tourism here is anchored by something no other island can offer. Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park drew 1.4 million visitors in 2024, generating $571 million in economic output and supporting over 3,600 jobs in surrounding communities. That kind of sustained, destination-driven foot traffic ripples across hospitality, retail, food and beverage, and services in ways that extend well beyond the park’s boundaries.

But the Big Island’s economy doesn’t begin and end with visitors. Kona coffee commands some of the highest prices of any coffee grown in the United States. Cattle ranching is a generational industry on this island, with Hawaii ranchers generating $82 million in gross income in 2023 alone, nearly double pre-pandemic figures. These are working businesses with decades behind them and real demand in front of owners thinking seriously about what comes next.

Increasingly, what comes next involves outside capital. We’re tracking a growing wave of Wall Street and middle market interest in Big Island businesses, buyers from the mainland and beyond who recognise that this island’s asset base is undervalued relative to what it produces. For the right buyer, that gap is the opportunity.

Most Big Island businesses we represent fall into one of these categories:

• Tourism & Hospitality: Anchored by Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, the Big Island draws a distinct type of traveller — longer stays, higher spend, and a genuine interest in the land and culture beneath their feet.
• Kona Coffee & Specialty Agriculture: Kona coffee is one of the most recognised and highest-priced coffees in the world, grown on volcanic slopes that exist nowhere else. Specialty farms, co-ops, and processors form a tight, established market with serious buyer interest.
• Cattle Ranching & Agribusiness: Generational ranching operations across the island’s uplands represent some of the most significant agricultural land holdings in the United States, with supply chains that reach well beyond Hawaii.
• Food & Beverage: From Hilo’s local dining scene to Kailua-Kona’s waterfront restaurants, F&B businesses here serve both a loyal resident base and a steady visitor economy that rarely overlaps with Maui or Oahu crowds.
• Health Care & Professional Services: Hawaii County’s population is growing and ageing, driving sustained demand for health, wellness, and professional service businesses that serve the community year-round.
• Emerging Middle Market & M&A Activity: The Big Island is quietly attracting attention from mainland and institutional buyers who recognise that its asset base — across agriculture, hospitality, and services — is undervalued relative to what it produces.

The numbers behind the Big Island’s business market:

• 1.4 million visitors to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in 2024, spending $445 million in surrounding communities and generating $571 million in total economic output, supporting 3,605 local jobs.
• Visitor arrivals to Hawai’i Island in 2024 recovered to 98% of 2019 levels, the strongest recovery rate of any island in the state.
• Hawaii ranchers generated $82 million in gross income in 2023, a 53% increase over 2022 and nearly double pre-pandemic figures.
• In Q2 2025, Hawaii County added 1,200 non-agricultural wage and salary jobs, with the strongest growth in Health Care and Social Assistance, and Arts, Entertainment and Recreation.

Sources: National Park Service (2025), DBEDT Q1 2025 Statistical and Economic Report, Hawaii Department of Agriculture (2024), DBEDT County Economic Conditions (2025).